Fabian Zetterlund’s goal with less than three minutes to play lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 4–3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday afternoon, snapping the Sens' three-game losing streak and starting the New Year on a positive note. The goal was Zetterlund’s 10th of the season, and perhaps the easiest he’ll score all year, as he buried a gorgeous backhand feed from Thomas Chabot. It was a strong response after Aliaksei Protas had tied the game at the three-minute mark, less than two minutes earlier. Leevi Meriläinen earned the win for the Senators, who outshot the Capitals 32–29 on the afternoon. Shane Pinto paced Ottawa’s offense with two assists. Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy talk about Leevi Merilainen taking over the starter's role for the foreseeable future. Just 13 hours after the ball dropped on 2026, the Senators got their New Year off to a sluggish start in this one. Tom Wilson, fresh off a Gordie Howe hat trick and a Canadian Olympic selection the day before, opened the scoring with his 22nd goal of the season, cashing in on a rebound. Dylan Strome added to the lead on the power play. Strome dangled past a stick check from Claude Giroux at the blue line, then walked down main street and beat Meriläinen with a strong, low wrist shot with just over a minute remaining in the first period. But for Auld Lang Syne, a former Capital then pushed back against his old team. Nick Jensen scored his second goal of the season right after Jake Sanderson rang one off the crossbar. The rebound kicked out to Jensen, who beat Logan Thompson with a wrist shot. It was a timely goal for Jensen, who had lost his man on the opening goal and had been a rare healthy scratch in the previous game. Then, with 29 seconds left in the second, Ridly Greig, battling in front, knocked in his fifth goal of the year to tie the game at two after 40 minutes. Early in the third, less than three minutes in, veteran David Perron scored to give the Senators a 3–2 advantage. Nick Cousins did some strong work behind the Washington net to free up the puck for Stephen Halliday, who made a great pass out front to Perron. Perron one-timed it past Thompson. A few minutes later, the Sens celebrated what they thought was a Shane Pinto goal. Either the whistle had gone first, or officials ruled Pinto pushed Thompson’s pad with his stick. There wasn’t much discussion, they announced 'no goal' and that was that. The Capitals pushed hard in the final 90 seconds with the goalie pulled but the Senators weathered the storm. The Sens improve to 19-15-5 and will be back at it on Saturday night, hosting the Winnipeg Jets. By Steve Warne The Hockey News - Ottawa
