OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk scored twice, Connor Brown extended his franchise-record goal-scoring streak to eight games and the Ottawa Senators beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 Monday night.
Evgenii Dadonov also scored and Thomas Chabot and Josh Norris each had two assists as Ottawa rallied from two goals down and ended a four-game losing streak. Anton Forsberg was impressive in goal after a shaky start with 24 saves.
After a quiet start to the season, Brown is now scoring at a pace reserved for the league’s top snipers. He tied Toronto’s Auston Matthews for the longest goal streak of the season, and only Jaromir Jagr (nine goals in 1996-97) and Teemu Selanne (11 in 1997-98) have had longer streaks in the past 25 years.
“Nobody deserves it more than him,” Tkachuk said. “He’s one of the hardest workers that I know. Everybody’s proud of him, and everything that he’s shooting is going in.”
The Senators improved to 2-4-1 against the Jets this season.
“We managed the puck a lot better than we have against them in other games,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said.
Kyle Connor and and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg, which snapped a three-game win streak. Connor Hellebuyck, making his seventh straight start, stopped 20 shots.
Winnipeg missed a chance to eat into Toronto’s lead atop the North Division. The Maple Leafs lost 4-2 to Montreal on Monday but remained six points ahead of the Jets.
The teams meet again Wednesday at Ottawa.
Dadonov gave the Senators a 3-2 lead — their first advantage of the game — when Hellebuyck was unable to handle a bouncing puck, allowing the Senators forward to get the rebound and backhand the puck over the Jets goalie just past the midpoint of the third.
“I’m a little mad at myself,” said Hellebuyck, last season’s winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. “A couple bad mistakes. Not good enough.”
Tkachuk scored his second of the game and 14th of the season when he caused a turnover in the neutral zone, then skated into Winnipeg’s end and wired a shot past Hellebuyck with 3:48 remaining.
The Jets opened the scoring five minutes into the game after some sustained pressure on their first power play. Connor scored his 19th when his slap shot hit the underside of the Ottawa crossbar and fell behind Forsberg.
Ehlers made it 2-0 at 11:35 when he used Paul Stastny as a screen and fooled Forsberg with a quick shot to pick up his 18th. Ehlers extended his point streak to four games (three goals, three assists).
The Senators got one back on the power play with just under 9 minutes left in the opening period when Norris’ shot deflected off both Jets defenseman Derek Forbort and Tkachuk and past Hellebuyck.
Brown scored his eighth goal in eight games and 14th overall when his shot went off Hellebuyck’s glove and into the net to tie the game 2-2 with 1:22 remaining in the period.
“I think he’s going to score the next 13,” Tkachuk said, referring to the number of games left in Ottawa’s season.
The Jets outshot Ottawa 14-7 in the second period, thanks in part to having three power plays. However, Forsberg was sharp to keep his team in the game.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Senators went with a young defense after dealing veterans Mike Reilly, Erik Gudbranson and Braydon Coburn before Monday’s trade deadline. Erik Brannstrom, 21, moved into Ottawa’s top-four while Victor Mete, 22, made his Senators debut after being claimed off waivers from Montreal earlier Monday.
“It’s good to be here with a lot of young guys,” said Mete, who played 9:43 Monday. “I feel like if I can establish myself here it will be a big success moving forward.”
STREAKING
Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele assisted on Connor’s goal to give him an assist in four straight games.
BACK IN THE LINEUP
Ottawa forward Colin White played for the first time since he suffered an upper-body injury April 1 against Montreal.
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