Drake Batherson scored on the power play with 2:09 remaining and the Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Monday.
The Penguins finally beat goaltender Dylan Ferguson when Rickard Rakell scored with 5:21 left in the third period. However, a penalty to defenseman Chad Ruhwedel gave the Senators a power play advantage, and they took a 2-1 lead with Batherson’s 21st goal of the season.
Ferguson, making his first NHL start and appearance in more than five years, made 47 saves to inflict the Penguins’ fourth straight loss.
Thomas Chabot scored his 10th goal of the season for the Senators, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
The Penguins are now behind the Panthers in the hunt for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tristan Jarry defended his team’s net well, but couldn’t stop Batherson’s shot near the crease late in the game.
Ferguson had only played nine minutes in the NHL before that game, still a young goaltender with the Golden Knights at the start of the 2017-18 season. He has since played at many levels and was set to be returned to the ECHL by the Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League) earlier this month when the Senators reached terms with him. of a two-part contract.
Ferguson seemed in the right place from the first seconds of the game. The latter made important saves early in the game, including against Jake Guentzel.
Chabot scored after 16:46 in the first period, with the help of Claude Giroux. Chabot skated to the face-off circle before beating Jarry.
Aleksander Barkov set a Florida Panthers all-time high for career points as Carter Verhaeghe added two goals and the team beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Monday night.
Barkov added a second-period assist to bring his career total to 614 points, passing Jonathan Huberdeau for the team record.
Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, while Eric Staal and Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who are 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 pitches.
Pius Suter and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who have lost 10 of their last 12 games. Ville Husso also made 20 saves.
The Panthers led 2-1 after the first period.