THE BREAKDOWN: Korpisalo steals the show as the Senators ...

SENATORS 5, OILERS 3

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The Ottawa Senators bent, but thanks to Joonas Korpisalo they refused to break.

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Jakob Chychrun scored his second of the night on the power play with just over three minutes left in the third period to help lead the Senators to a 5-3 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in front of a sellout crowd of 19,344 Sunday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Chychrun registered the club’s third power-play goal of the night with at 16:57 of the third as the Senators scored five times on 16 shots.

Korpisalo, making his second straight start, had one of his best efforts of the season to give the Senators a chance to get two points with 33 stops. Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson also had three-point nights.

Parker Kelly put it away into an empty net.

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The Senators made the most of their chances, and they had to, because they didn’t have a whole lot in the way of zone time in this game.

“I told the boys the ice looked pretty good in their end if we were able to get down there,” Batherson said.

There were times it felt like the ice was tilted in favour of the Oilers because the Senators were having a tough time making anything happen.

“They had a lot of shots, and a lot of zone time, but I think we kept them mostly to the outside,” Stutzle said. “Korpi did a great job.”

McDavid came into this game with 11 goals, 29 assists and 40 points in 23 career games against the Senators. That’s the most McDavid has recorded versus any team in the East and just for good measure he added another two assists to that total.

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STICKING WITH KORPI

The decision by interim coach Jacques Martin to start Korpisalo in back-to-back games was a mild surprise.

We haven’t seen it a whole lot in this town in the last five years, but he was coming off an 18-save performance in the club’s 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils Saturday night at the Prudential Center.

It turned out to be the right choice, the Senators and Oilers were tied 3-3 after 40 minutes, but Ottawa had been outshoot 31-12. Korpisalo had to make some big stops to keep it close and the Senators made most of the chances they had on Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard.

“He played very well last night and he wasn’t overly busy,” Martin said. “We just felt he was the guy to get the back-to-back. We didn’t think the other guy was in the right place right now. That’s why we made that decision.”

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Goaltending has been an achilles heel for the Senators this season, but if not for Korpisalo then Ottawa wouldn’t have had a chance to keep it close.

Ottawa Senators centre Tim Stutzle (18) scores on Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) during second period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, Sunday, March 24, 2024. Photo by Justin Tang /THE CANADIAN PRESSOFF THE GLASS

The Senators erased a two-goal deficit thanks to Batherson’s 25th of the season at 16:30 of the second. He fired a blast from the slot past Pickard on the stick side. It was the club’s second power-play goal of the night. “Korpi made some really nice saves. We didn’t have many shots, but we were able to capitalize on our chances,” Batherson said … Stutzle pulled the Senators to within a goal when he beat Pickard short side at 4:48 of the second … Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday, the Oilers were in a lousy mood. That made this an already difficult challenge for Ottawa even tougher. The Senators came into this game with just four wins in their last 12 games versus the Oilers … Zach Hyman became the second NHL player to score 50 goals this season. He completed the feat by taking a pass from McDavid and beating Korpisalo stick side at 3:34 on the power play. That was the Oilers second goal in a span of 1:56 and gave the club a 3-1 lead. Hyman’s teammates were thrilled for him. At 31-years-old, he’s third oldest in NHL history to record his first 50-goal campaign. “Life is a rollercoaster, but if you stick with it things tend to go your way,” Hyman said …. Draisaitl threaded the needle to fire a rocket upstairs by Korpisalo on the power play at 1:38 of the second. That came on the power play and Draisaitl beat Korpisalo from a shot at the goal-line.

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Ottawa Senators’ Tim Stutzle battles for the puck with Brett Kulak of the Edmonton Oilers during the second period at Canadian Tire Centre on March 24, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Chris Tanouye / Freestyle Photo /GETTY IMAGESTHE FINAL BUZZER

Outshot 13-5 by the Oilers in the first, Korpisalo made a couple of highlight reel stops to keep the Senators in the game … Chychrun scored his first in 19 games by beating Pickard upstairs to tie it up 1-1 at 5:27 of the first on a tremendous pass from Batherson. That came only seven seconds in Ottawa’s first power play. “Drake made a heck of pass, I had to bury that one for him,” Chychrun told TSN’s Claire Hanna after the first … The Oilers opened the scoring only 3:49 into the first. Mattias Ekholm did a good job finding Adam Henrique going to the net and it deflect off his skate by Korpisalo. It was reviewed, but it was ruled it entered the net in a legal fashion … Tkachuk hit the outside of the post only 30 seconds into the first … Oilers’ coach Kris Knoblauch opted to scratch winger Evander Kane. While Knoblauch called it “maintenance day”, the belief is he wasn’t happy with the way Kane played in Toronto. Hockey Night in Canada showed Kane having words with Draisaitl on the bench during the second period. “We feel, for the long run, it’s best for him not to play,” Knoblauch said. Kane has 21 goals and 39 points in 67 games, but wasn’t good against the Leafs … Let’s put a stop to this: The Senators shouldn’t bring Connor Brown back this summer.

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