, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Ottawa (25-43-6) has the fewest points in the NHL with 58.''It was really satisfying,'' Crawford said. ''You need success in order to keep the guys focused in on doing the right things. I thought we played a really good game, it was one of the most complete games that we've played.''We're going to make a few mistakes and we made a couple mistakes in coverage, but tonight we didn't complicate things. We didn't make two or three mistakes on many plays out there.''Senators goalie Craig Anderson made 26 saves for his first win since Dec. 21, snapping a personal streak of 14 straight losses.''It's been a long-time coming,'' Anderson said. ''Personally it's been a tough stretch, obviously, to be close without (being) able to get there. Tonight we were able to get there and finalize it and get the win and it's just a great feeling to have.''Alex Chiasson, Connor McDavid and Colby Cave scored for the Oilers (33-34-8), who have lost three of four. Edmonton stands six points out of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference.''It's like when we lost to New Jersey, it was the same type of team when you look at the standings,'' Chiasson said. ''Tonight we play a team at the bottom of the standings and that has traded away four or five of its best players and they outwork us. In our position, that is not good enough.''The Senators struck first on the power play five minutes into the first period when Tkachuk banked the puck off of defender Adam Larsson and past goalie Mikko Koskinen from behind the net for his 18th goal of the season. Edmonton tied the game four minutes later when Chiasson went in on a breakaway and beat Anderson with a backhand shot. Ottawa regained the lead with another first-period power-play goal as Ryan deflected a shot from in front of the net. The Oilers tied the game three minutes into the second period on a give-and-go passing play with Leon Draisaitl setting up McDavid for his 38th goal. McDavid tied his career high of 108 points with the goal. The Senators surged ahead seven-and-a-half minutes into the third when a terrific pass from Magnus Paajarvi set up a goal by Gibbons. But Edmonton came back 66 seconds later on a goal by Cave that eventually sent the game into overtime. NOTES: Each team had its share of controversy this week. Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson called out the play of forward Tobias Rieder at a season ticket holder's breakfast. Embattled Senators owner Eugene Melnyk made disparaging comments on a radio show about Ottawa's fans, mayor and media, as well as the rebuild of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. ... It was the second and last game between the teams, with Edmonton winning the first game 4-2, on Feb. 28. ... Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot returned to the lineup after missing four games with a broken toe. ... Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera played his 700th NHL game. UP NEXTSenators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Oilers: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.---More NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Time: 4:00 PM EDT Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Canada / It appears neither the Ottawa Senators nor the Edmonton Oilers are going to put an end to Canada's 25-season drought without a Stanley Cup this spring. The Senators (25-43-6), who play Saturday afternoon at Edmonton, have a league-worst 56 points and have already been eliminated from postseason contention. The Oilers (33-34-7), despite a 4-1 victory Thursday against visiting Columbus, are five points back with eight games left in the race for the Western Conference's second and final wild-card berth, with four teams between them and the last spot." These are the biggest games of the year and all the excitement is here," Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen, who stopped 19 of 20 shots, told NHL.com. "As long as we have a (mathematical) chance, we're going to fight until the end." Thursday's contest opened a five-game homestand for the Oilers." I know everybody around here talks about next year but that's not the focus in that locker room," Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Somebody is going to get in (the playoffs). We just got to keep playing and winning hockey games. If we play the way we played tonight, we're going to win a lot of games." The Oilers scored three third-period goals to beat the Blue Jackets after entering the final period tied at 1-1. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist in the final period to give him 107 points this season (37 goals, 70 assists), one shy of his career-high set last year. Two Oilers reached milestones, with Leon Draisaitl assisting on three goals to reach 300 career points and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his career-high 25th goal of the season." It's nice to hit a personal high but at the same time, it's a lot sweeter with the win," Nugent-Hopkins told NHL.com. The Senators are 0-2 on their three-game, western Canada trip after a 7-4 loss Wednesday in Vancouver and a 5-1 defeat Thursday in Calgary. Dylan DeMelo scored the game's opening goal against the Flames, but Ottawa dropped to 3-12-1 in its past 16 games." At the end of the day it's everybody on the ice," goaltender Craig Anderson, who dropped to 0-13-1 in his past 14 decisions, told NHL.com. "It's veterans, it's rookies, everyone has to be a little bit better. You're in the National Hockey League. Whether you're a young guy or an old guy, it doesn't matter. You're in the National Hockey League. You're here for a reason. You're a good hockey player. You have to take care of the puck. That's what it comes down to." We come out of the gate pretty well and we're able to get the lead. We were just unable to sustain that. A couple times, just maybe unaware of how quick they were or how good their sticks were. They take the puck from us and come down and score. It's just one of those things where we've got to be a little bit harder on the puck, and when we have that lead, make sure we play a little tougher." Added Senators rookie forward Brady Tkachuk: "It's a long year. We've all learned a lot. This last stretch is all about sticking together and working as hard as we can to win as many games as we can." Ottawa forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau served a one-game suspension Thursday for boarding Vancouver's Ashton Sautner the previous night.--Field Level Media
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