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OTTAWA, Ontario — Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny kept returning to one word: patience. It was what his team had in the first two periods on Sunday and what it lacked in the third.
That led to a second straight loss for Utah
Senators forward Claude Giroux broke a third-period tie as Ottawa topped Utah 3-1 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Utah outshot Ottawa 35-27 but struggled to beat rookie goalie Leevi Merilainen.
"We generated enough chances; we had two breakaways and we could have pulled away, but we didn't," Tourigny said. "So you need to stay with it and be patient. We're on the road. It's 1-1 after two; we need to find a way to get a point."
Especially when a bit of luck got them back on even terms to begin with.
Utah's lone goal came on a flukey bounce in the second period. Clayton Keller sent a pass into the slot that was intended for Logan Cooley, but it hit off Ottawa's Ridly Greig and into the back of the net. It was Keller's 18th goal of the season and extended his point streak to seven games.
The fortuitous bounce seemed to overcome a mistake on the power play that happened just over a minute earlier — a play that Greig also played a part in.
Nick Schmaltz's pass through the neutral zone to set up the man advantage was just out of the reach of Clayton Keller's stick. Suddenly, instead of setting up things on the power play, Utah was chasing a 2-on-1 shorthanded break that Greig finished off for the game's first goal.
Another mistake cost the team in the third.
Giroux slipped toward the net unmarked and finished off a beauty of a pass for what ended up being the game-winner.
"Unfortunately, we made a mistake; they scored a second goal and I didn't like how we responded to that," Tourigny said.
He said the team tried to "play in front" of the Senators instead of putting the puck behind the net and "going to work."
"We were predictable for them and they cut off too many plays," he said.
Eventually, that led to the game-sealing goal, when Brady Tkachuk finished off a quick 3-on-2 rush at the 13:22 mark of the third, giving Ottawa a two-goal lead.
Karel Vejmelka made 24 stops to follow up his shutout on Thursday against Minnesota.
"We could have done a better job putting it behind them like we did the first and second period and playing their end," defenseman Olli Määttä said. "I think when you have to defend for a long time in your own zones, something's gonna open up and I don't think we stuck to it enough."
The patience left and the game slipped away.
"I think we played so well those first two, and they didn't really have anything, so I think just to trust in that, and if we do that, we're gonna win that game," Määttä said. "We just got to have the confidence and swagger."
