Karlsson, Senators top Canucks in OT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Erik Karlsson netted the game-winning goal 1:21 into overtime and the Ottawa Senators battled back from a three-goal deficit to top the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, on Sunday.
Mika Zibanejad, who finished with two goals and two assists, dropped a pass back to Karlsson in the slot and the Ottawa captain beat a screened Eddie Lack with a wrister for the win.
David Legwand scored on the power play to spark the comeback, Bobby Ryan tallied three helpers and Craig Anderson made 30 saves for the Senators, who ended a five-game skid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Radim Vrbata had a goal and an assist, while Brad Richardson and Kevin Bieksa also scored for Vancouver, which got 41 stops from Lack in its second straight loss.
"(Lack) played so well," Vancouver head coach Willie Desjardins said. "That gave us a chance, but we couldn't do it."
The Canucks opened the scoring with two goals in a span of 65 seconds during the first period.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vrbata stickhandled his way around Anderson and slipped the puck into the net at 6:10 and also assisted on Bieksa's slap shot from the high slot at 7:15 for a 2-0 Canucks lead.
Richardson increased Vancouver's lead after snapping home a shot 5:02 into the second, but Ottawa answered back with three goals of its own in the second period.
"Things didn't go our way at the start, but we stuck with it and actually came back with a push," Senators head coach Paul MacLean said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Legwand fired home a generous rebound over the shoulder of Lack for a power- play marker past the midway point. Zibanejad gathered his own rebound, skated behind the net and banked the puck off the skate of a defender and into the net for a 3-2 game with 5:48 left in the second.
Canucks defenseman Christopher Tanev blocked Ryan's shot from the right side, but Zibanejad was there to take the puck and drag it across the slot with his backhand before finishing the play with a patient backhander for a tie game with 1:02 to play before the second intermission.
Ottawa threatened in the latter stages of the third, most notably on Ryan's turnaround shot in the slot with just over two minutes to play, but neither team was able to find the back of the net and the game went to overtime.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Zibanejad has scored in three straight games ... Senators defenseman Marc Methot was a late scratch ... It was Zibanejad's first career multi-goal game ... The Senators went 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Canucks went 0- for-3.