Sidney Crosby exits, but Penguins nip Senators in shootout
Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel scored in a shootout to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win over the host Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby left early in the second period due to an undisclosed injury and did not return.
Rickard Rakell had two goals and an assist and defenseman Erik Karlsson produced a goal and two assists for the Penguins, who had lost their previous two games. Stuart Skinner stopped 26 shots through regulation and overtime, then stopped two of Ottawa's three shootout attempts.
Drake Batherson scored twice and had the shootout goal while Nick Cousins added a goal for the Senators, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Tim Stutzle had two assists. Linus Ullmark made 34 saves through regulation and OT but turned aside just one of three in the shootout.
Batherson put in a rebound for his second goal, which tied it 3-3, 3:58 into the third. The tally was the career-high 29th for Batherson, who has posted five multi-goal efforts in his past 14 games.
Rakell's second goal, a 5-on-3 power-play, gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead 1:43 into the third period. Rakell hammered in a one-time slap shot from the left circle.
Karlsson tied the game 2-2 on a shot from the top of the right circle with Kindel in front screening Ullmark at 3:45 of the second period. Karlsson has seven goals and 11 assists in his past 11 games.
Cousins had given Ottawa a 2-1 lead 1:50 into the middle period. He tucked a shot inside the post from below the left circle after his attempted pass on a 2-on-1 went off the skate of Pittsburgh defenseman Samuel Girard's skate and caromed back to Cousins.
Rakell tied it 1-1 with 6:14 left in the first period with a one-time slap shot from the high slot. He was set up by Karlsson, who had held the puck in the Ottawa zone at the right point.
Batherson tallied a power-play goal to give the Senators a 1-0 lead 4:28 into the game. Located at the bottom of the left circle, he converted a cross-crease pass from captain Brady Tkachuk.
Stutzle reached 400 career points with the second assist on Batherson's first goal of the night.