OTTAWA — Thomas Chabot has spent eight of his birthdays with the Ottawa Senators but this one was the best by far.
Chabot, who turned 28 on Thursday night, scored in overtime to lead Ottawa past the league-leading Washington Capitals 5-4.
"It was fun," said Chabot. "I've been in the city for eight years and we've waited a long time to have this kind of success with the team.
"I've loved every moment I've been here and I couldn't have asked for a better ending."
Chabot was all alone in the slot waiting for an opportunity to beat Charlie Lindgren, who made 29 saves.
"Shane (Pinto) and I kept looking at each other and he was in the battle, battling for his life, and really I was by myself, and he just had to put it anywhere in the slot and he did," said Chabot. "And, you know what, just happy to score that goal to get us the two points."
Those two points could prove critical as the Senators (27-20-4) continue to battle in the tightly contested Eastern Conference.
Ottawa did a lot of things right on this night but nearly let it slip away.
The Senators had two power-play goals, a short-handed penalty shot and short-handed goal but allowed the Capitals to make it a closer game than necessary.
"I thought our game got a tad loose when it was 4-2," admitted Senators coach Travis Green. "I felt like we felt like we were gonna win the game and against a team like Washington if you let your guard down for a couple minutes they’re going to attack and they did.”
Ottawa started the third leading 3-1, but the Capitals showed exactly why they sit atop the league standings.
Dylan Strome scored on the power play to make it 3-2 but Jake Sanderson was able to regain the two-goal lead with an Ottawa power-play goal.
"I was really proud of the way we played, other than obviously some of the special teams stuff, but 5-on-5, through the whole game, and then also the resiliency late in the third period, I thought we poured it on, especially in that last, whatever it was, 12 minutes call it,” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought we had good opportunities to win that thing in regulation and get the fifth (goal).
"So, a lot of positives, especially late in that game.”
Alex Ovechkin, who is 19 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894, scored on the power-play at 13:01 to make it 4-3. Dylan Strome, with his second of the period, tied the game beating Anton Forsberg, who made 31 saves.
“When it was 4-2, we still believed we could come back,” said Ovechkin. “It’s a big point for us.
"Obviously, overtime and the shootout, it’s maybe 50-50. But, you know, we fight and battle. It was a good game."
Scoreless after the first the Senators were able to jump out to a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. This was in stark contrast to the Capitals 1-0 overtime win in Ottawa two weeks ago.
Ottawa opened the scoring with a Ridley Greig power-play goal. Connor McMichael tied it before the Senators scored two goals 38 seconds apart.
With the Senators on the penalty kill Josh Norris, who had a goal and two assists, was awarded a penalty shot after John Carlson pulled him down. Norris made no mistake beating Lindgren and seconds later Shane Pinto buried a Norris rebound shorthanded to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead.
"I mean, we've shown that we can battle against any team in this league," Chabot said. "And once again, I think that's another example.
"Last time they came here, it was a tight game all the way through and, I mean, they won it in overtime 1-0 so we wanted to get it back from them and we did it right from the start."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2025.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press