Senators send Wild a powerful message after hit on Stutzle
Published
OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators aren’t going to let anyone go after their best players and let them get away with it.
Saturday night the Minnesota Wild learned that the hard way.
The Senators (28-20-4) scored three power-play goals en route to a 6-0 win after Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman went after Tim Stutzle.
The two were lined up for a faceoff at the end of the second period and after the puck was dropped Hartman shoved Stutzle down and pushed his head into the ice. Officials reviewed the play and Hartman was ejected from the game after receiving a five-minute “attempting to injure” match penalty.
Stutzle suffered a gash over his left eye and after the game still had dried blood patches on his face.
“To be honest, I didn't really see what happened,” said Stutzle. “I didn't see the replay yet. What happened is, I just hit my face off the ice. We were going at it there before. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't see the replay yet.”
The Senators, leading 3-0 at that point, retaliated in the best way possible, scoring twice in a span of 59 seconds.
Jake Sanderson, who had a career four-point night with a goal and three assists, beat Filip Gustavsson, who faced 52 shots, from the top of the slot. Brady Tkachuk made it 5-0 scoring 59 seconds later. The Wild then took another minor penalty to provide Ottawa a two-man advantage and Drake Batherson buried his 15th. It was Batherson’s first goal in 11 games.
“It was important to respond with some goals, for sure,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “You never like to see a play like that. Not a lot of place for that in the league, nice to score on the power play, for sure."
The penalty buried the Wild (31-18-4) but they were far from their best right from the start. With the Wild boasting a 20-5-3 road record the Senators knew they would have to be at their best.
“Even without the power play, or whatever, we’re not even close today,” said Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello. “I haven’t seen us like this in a while. So, this is not good enough and hopefully it was a one-off and we can come back to work on Tuesday.”
Green said he had a feeling his team would come out flying. They had talked about having a “businesslike” approach to the game and they delivered.
“It was a great effort from the drop of the puck,” he said. “You could tell that our team was ready to play and just a really, really good 60-minute game.”
Stutzle, with a goal and two assists, Josh Norris and Michael Amadio also scored for Ottawa, while Leevi Merilainen picked up his third shutout of the season stopping 16 shots.
The Senators closed out their four-game homestand with a perfect 4-0-0 and scored 16 goals through that stretch after having been shutout in their two previous games.
“It was a matter of time,” said Batherson. “I mean, we've been getting contributions up and down the lineup, which has been great. So it was a matter of time.
"We've been playing pretty solid, and tonight was one of those games where everything just kind of found its way in.”
Ottawa, with 60 points, sits five points back of the Atlantic-leading Florida Panthers, with a game in hand. The two teams square off next week.
NOTES
Senators' centre Josh Norris left the game late in the third period and was unable to return. Green did not provide an update on his status.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2025.