The Senators failed to take advantage of the Coyotes' dreadful slump, or the fact Arizona was on part two of a back-to-back on the road.

If their 14-game losing slide was supposed to make them easy pickings, the Arizona Coyotes didn’t get the memo. In their second game of a back-to-back situation on the road, Arizona marched into Ottawa, took an early 3-0 lead, then hung on to defeat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 at Canadian Tire Centre Friday night.

To add to the misery, Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot both left the game late in the third period. The team had no injury updates after the game.

Arizona was paced in the early going by former Sens' farm hand Michael Carcone, who had a goal and assist for the Coyotes. The Senators rallied to tie the game in the second period, but Dylan Guenther's third-period wrister from the top of the circle was the difference.

Carcone, J.J. Moser and Nick Schmaltz scored in the first to give Arizona the 3-0 lead. It was the fifth time in six games the Senators had coughed up an early 2-0 lead (at least), which is a losing formula at any level of hockey.

In what might have been his final home game as a Senator, pending UFA Vladimir Tarasenko helped lead the comeback attempt, scoring near the end of the first period. 

The Sens tied the game in the second on goals by Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson, who scored his fourth goal in as many games. Pinto and Tarasenko ended up with a goal and an assist.

Anton Forsberg got the news late that he’d be starting. The original starter, Joonas Korpisalo, came down with an illness before the game.

When one team has underachieved all season and the other is on a long 14-game losing streak, the game was bound to get a little feisty. And it did in the third period, with several scuffles after the whistle.

Ottawa pulled Forsberg at the end of the game and got several good chances but couldn't find the equalizer. Matias Maccelli scored the empty netter as the Coyotes snapped their skid and the Sens lost their third game in a row.

Tarasenko was asked about the possibility of playing his last home game for the Senators. He said he likes the group and the city but added, “We will see what happens.”

The Senators begin a four game road trip tomorrow with a game in Philadelphia tomorrow night.