Senators Beat Penguins 4-1, Move Into Tie For First In Atlantic Division

Michael Amadio had a goal and an assist to lead the Senators to a 4-1 win in Pittsburgh on Saturday night. The Senators have taken 9 of a possible 10 points in the past five games and now share the Atlantic lead with 28.

Linus Ullmark made 16 saves for the Sens, who outshot the Penguins 34-17 and got goals from Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot.

The Penguins appeared to open the scoring at 7:01 of the first period when Tommy Novak was credited with a bizarre goal that featured a couple of strange bounces. However, video review determined that Pittsburgh's Egor Chinakhov was offside before the goal, wiping it off the board.

The Penguins did get on the board with just six seconds remaining in the first, thanks to a defensive breakdown by Thomas Chabot and Carter Yakemchuk, who put on a clinic in how not to defend a two-on-two.

Chinakhov lifted Chabot's stick as the Senators defenceman pinched and attempted to intercept a pass. As Chinakhov glided past Chabot, Yakemchuk veered toward him, and the Penguins forward slid the puck over to Novak, who had about two-thirds of the net to shoot at. He made no mistake, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

The Senators tied the game at 8:04 of the second period following a terrible Penguins giveaway, reminiscent of Shane Pinto's overtime winner against Colorado on Thursday night. Michael Amadio made a good read to intercept a careless pass to the middle and beat the goaltender with a wrist shot.

With four minutes remaining in the second, Claude Giroux put the Sens ahead with his fourth goal of the season.

With the Penguins in the middle of a line change, Pittsburgh forward Ben Kindel committed the ultimate sin, failing to get the puck deep while his teammates were heading to the bench. Kindel tried to dump it in, but instead fired the puck off Yakemchuk's skate.

The puck caromed out to centre ice, where Giroux found himself on a breakaway. The veteran did a fantastic job of outwaiting Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov before tucking a backhand upstairs to give the Senators a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

In the third, with just over five minutes to play, Tim Stutzle put the game out of reach with a quick wrist shot from his knees that Murashov didn't seem ready for.

Chabot put it away with an empty-netter.

The win leaves the Senators with a record of 13-6-2, and with losses by Tampa and Montreal, the three clubs are suddenly tied for first place in the Atlantic with 28 points, one up on Boston, which also lost on Saturday. It should be noted that the Habs and Lightning do have a game in hand.

The Sens are back at it on Tuesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets, who've won six in a row.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa