Defenseman Artem Zub scored the go-ahead goal 2:50 into the third period, lifting the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
Zack Ostapchuk scored his first career NHL goal for Ottawa, which has recorded points in six straight games (5-0-1). The Senators improved to 19-3-0 this season when scoring first.
Anton Forsberg made 25 saves to pick up his first win since Nov. 25, when he prevailed against the Calgary Flames.
Tomas Tatar responded with a goal for the Devils, who are winless in four straight games (0-2-2) and have lost nine of their past 11 games (2-6-3).
Zub made it 2-1 for the Senators early in the third period, wristing a Shane Pinto pass high blocker side past a screened Jacob Markstrom for his second goal of the season. Zub has two goals in four games after going 17 games without scoring.
Pinto has recorded an assist in back-to-back games.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 13:16 of the middle frame, as Ostapchuk wristed a shot shortside past Markstrom.
Tatar responded for the Devils 1:18 later, beating Forsberg with a backhand shot to snap a 19-game goal-scoring drought.
Curtis Lazar ended a 12-game stretch without a point on the play, picking up an assist on Tatar’s fourth goal of the season.
With the Senators in the second game of a back-to-back following a 6-5 shootout win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Devils took advantage of a tired team and dominated the first period.
New Jersey, which had just 13 shots in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, outshot Ottawa 16-2 in a scoreless opening frame.
Sunday was the second of three meetings between the Devils and Senators this season. New Jersey picked up a 3-1 win in Ottawa on Oct. 17. The teams conclude the season series on March 22 in New Jersey.
–Field Level Media
