Nine stitches, one lost tooth, one overtime goal.
That was Brady Tkachuk’s stat line on Thursday night as Ottawa’s captain scored 55 seconds into extra time to give the streaking Senators a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.
“Don’t feel too good. Don’t feel too good-looking either, right now. Thank God we got the Christmas pictures done already,” quipped Tkachuk, flashing a wide grin underneath the repair job above his lip.
Ottawa has won five games in a row, the NHL’s longest active win streak.
Tkachuk’s franchise-best 10th career overtime goal came on a two-on-one immediately after goaltender Linus Ullmark turned aside Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau on a two-on-one break.
With the puck lying loose, Ullmark charged out and flung it up ice to Tim Stutzle, whose shot was stopped by Dan Vladar. Stutzle got his stick on the rebound and chipped it to Tkachuk, who scored his team-leading 16th goal.
Earlier in the game, Tkachuk needed medical attention after Flames captain Mikael Backlund attempted to lift Tkachuk’s stick and instead caught him in the face.
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“Obviously took a nasty cut to the face, the guy’s a warrior,” said Senators coach Travis Green.
As Backlund went off for a double-minor and Tkachuk went to the locker room, Ottawa went onto the power play but couldn’t capitalize.
In the third period, Ridly Greig scored a short-handed goal at 6:24, which was followed 52 seconds later by Huberdeau’s power-play goal tying the game again at 2-2.
“Obviously it wasn’t our prettiest game,” said Greig, who scored his first goal in 20 games. “But when you can squeak one out like that, good things can come.”
Ottawa’s improved play has got them back in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are in the second wild-card spot, two points back of the Boston Bruins with two games in hand.
“We’re riding a good high right now,” said Tkachuk. “Obviously it wasn’t our best game and we know we need to be a lot better. But it shows the maturity and the lessons that we’ve learned in the adversity that we’ve faced, that we can handle anything and just find a way to grease out a win.”
Two games into a stretch of nine games in a row on the road — four before the holiday break and five after — the Senators are back in action in Vancouver on Saturday night.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game played in a while,” admitted Green. “Probably would have lost that game three weeks ago and found a way to win tonight.”
The visitors got another stellar performance from Ullmark in net. He made 29 stops to win his seventh game in a row.
“Boys are feeling good right now. Obviously, Ullmark’s a big part of that, he’s been playing lights-out,” said Greig. “So credit to him, but everything’s been coming together and we’re playing (with) a lot more (confidence).”
It’s not the first time Tkachuk has been cut in the face.
“It’s happened twice to me. So, yeah, I’ve already sent pictures to my family group chat and I’ve already seen texts back,” Tkachuk said. “Hopefully it’s a lesson learned for everybody to wear their mouthguard.”
Tkachuk knows Backlund well as he was a longtime teammate of Brady’s brother, Matthew, now a star with the Florida Panthers.
“He apologized,” he said. “No hard feelings. Obviously he didn’t do it intentionally. It happens.”
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