PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joonas Korpisalo has spent most of his career being on the losing end when the Pittsburgh Penguins fire pucks his way.
The veteran Ottawa Senators goalie exacted a bit of revenge on Saturday night in a 5-2 victory. Korpisalo made 22 of his 40 saves during a hectic first period and saw his teammates block 23 shots before they made their way to the net as the Senators snapped a three-game losing streak.
“It’s huge (to have that many blocked shots),” said Korpisalo after beating the Penguins for just the second time in eight starts. “That’s what wins games and ultimately when you see guys blocking shots like that you want to make sure you don’t let one in.”
Korpisalo eventually did let in two, but both came after the Senators had things well in hand.
Brady Tkachuk scored twice for Ottawa. Ridly Greig, Dominik Kubalik and Drake Batherson also scored for the Senators. Claude Giroux added two assists as Ottawa kept Pittsburgh in check despite playing with a patchwork blueline due to injuries to defensemen Artem Zub, Erik Brannstrom and Thomas Chabot.
“Sometimes it takes some adversity and losing a couple guys before you realize just how hard it is to win in the National Hockey League,” Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith said.
Sidney Crosby scored for the second straight game for Pittsburgh and Jake Guentzel picked up his second of the season in the final seconds. Tristan Jarry, who got his 15th career shutout by beating Colorado on Thursday, stopped just six of the nine shots he faced before being pulled early in the second period.
“I think you never want to lose, but I thought the first two periods were good from our end and obviously in the third we pressed a little bit,” Guentzel said. “Some positives to take out of it. Just got to bear down.”
The Penguins, who easily put together their most complete performance of the season’s opening weeks in toppling streaking Colorado, created pressure relentlessly in the opening 20 minutes. They fired 37 shots in all, with 22 of them making their way to the net.
It didn’t matter. Korpisalo turned them all aside and the Senators countered expertly.
Greig gave Ottawa the early lead when he redirected a pass from Giroux by Jarry just 4:24 into the game. Ottawa went nearly half the period without getting off another shot until Giroux found Tkachuk after the All-Star forward slipped behind Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Graves. Tkachuk’s wrist shot zipped over Jarry’s outstretched glove at 14:14.
Kubalik made it 3-0 with a laser from just above the right circle 5:28 into the second period, his first goal with Ottawa and first since March 30 while playing for Detroit.
The marker chased Jarry in favor of backup Magnus Hellberg. The veteran made 15 saves in his first appearance since being called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL earlier this week with Alex Nedeljkovic sidelined by a lower-body injury.
Bryan Rust fed Crosby with a nice cross-ice pass that Crosby tapped in for his fifth goal of the season late in the second period to give the Penguins some life. But Pittsburgh couldn’t close the gap, continuing an early season trend in which the NHL’s oldest team — one that is incorporating a fair amount of new parts, including reigning Norris Trophy defenseman Erik Karlsson — is struggling to find momentum.
Tkachuk and Batherson scored 16 seconds apart in the third period to give the Senators plenty of breathing room on a night they didn’t need it thanks to Korpisalo’s early brilliance.
UP NEXT
Senators: Host Los Angeles on Thursday.
Penguins: Finish up a four-game homestand on Monday against Anaheim.
