Artem Zub and Jordan Spence each scored within a 15-second span in the first period and the Ottawa Senators held on for a 2-1 home win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
The victory ended Ottawa’s season-high four-game (0-4-0) losing streak and moved the Senators out of last place in the Eastern Conference.
Leevi Merilainen stopped 19 of 20 shots to earn his seventh win this season. Merilainen has taken on an increased workload with Linus Ullmark away on personal leave, though Ottawa signed veteran goalie James Reimer on Monday.
The Canucks are on an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) and have gone 1-8-2 over their last 11 games. The slump includes regulation losses in each of the first five stops of their six-game road trip, which concludes in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Elias Pettersson scored the Canucks’ only goal, as Vancouver was outshot by a 40-20 margin.
Kevin Lankinen made 38 saves on 40 shots, single-handedly keeping the Canucks in the game despite the lopsided shot count.
Zub opened the scoring 15:36 into the first period, depositing a quick shot from the circle for his fourth goal of the season. Fifteen seconds later, Spence scored on a near-identical play, recording his third goal from almost the same spot on the ice.
It was the quickest pair of goals ever scored by two Ottawa defensemen in franchise history, and the 25th time the Senators had ever scored twice in 15 seconds or less.
The Senators outshot the Canucks 14-6 in the first period and then 18-5 in the second. Lankinen stood strong against this pressure, making several impressive saves to keep Ottawa off the board in the second frame.
A sloppy clearance attempt from Ottawa’s Dylan Cozens led to Vancouver’s goal at 1:17 of the third period. Cozens’ pass in his own zone was intercepted by Linus Karlsson, who fed Pettersson in front.
Pettersson’s marker sparked the Canucks, who had several quality chances in search of the third-period equalizer but couldn’t beat Merilainen again.
