Tim Stutzle scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre. Thomas Chabot chipped in with a goal and two helpers as the Senators officially nailed down the top wild card position in the East.  By not winning in regulation, they now cannot go any higher or lower in the standings.

Ottawa typically thrives when scoring first—they lead the NHL with the best record after scoring the first goal in a game—but this was a game they never led, getting outshot 32-25 in the process.

After a scoreless first, Flyers tough guy Nicolas Deslauriers found himself wide open in front of the Ottawa net and tucked home his own rebound to make it 1–0. Losing track of a player like Deslauriers in coverage is a bit like not noticing that a grizzly bear is in your living room.

But less than a minute later, Stützle took a crisp lead pass from Thomas Chabot, sprinted past his man and cut to the middle to tie the game at 1.

With under three minutes left in the second period, Noah Cates restored the Flyers' lead. On a one-on-one with Chabot, Cates got his shot off, skated around him to grab the rebound, and then beat Anton Forsberg on the wraparound to make it 2–1.

Early in the third, at 4:41, Shane Pinto floated a slick saucer pass to Fabian Zetterlund, who showed off his elite release and snapped one past Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov to tie it at 2.

But less than three minutes later, Garnet Hathaway scored from a bad angle, beating Forsberg short side—a save attempt the Sens goalie, to put it kindly, would love to have another go at.

With under eight minutes to play, Angus Crookshank set up Thomas Chabot at the top of the right circle. Chabot fired a wrister high to the blocker side, tying the game once again at 3–3.

In overtime, after Travis Sanheim went off for interference on an obvious pick play, the Senators went to work, 4-on-3. When Cates lost his stick, the Sens were able to throw the puck around freely. Finally, in a perfect tic-tac-toe play started by Claude Giroux, Stutzle one-timed a perfect pass from Drake Batherson to win it.

Since it wasn't in regulation, the OT victory officially locks the Senators into the Wild Card 1 position. With two games to play, they could still finish the season tied with either Tampa Bay or Florida, but now they can’t catch them in regulation wins, which is the first tiebreaker.

That means the Sens will face the winner of the Atlantic Division in the first round of the playoffs, which will either be Toronto or Tampa Bay. The Leafs have a four point lead on the Lightning with three games to play.  

By Steve Warne
THN Ottawa Site Editor

Sens Headlines:

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- Brady Tkachuk: 'I Don’t Think I’d Ever Miss An Opportunity To Play In The Playoffs
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- David Perron Chosen As Ottawa Senators 2025 Masterton Trophy Nominee
- CLINCHED: Ottawa Senators Officially Clinch First Playoff Spot In Eight Years
- Former Ottawa Senators Assistant GM Ray Shero Passes Away At Age 62

During the New Jersey Devils' April 13 contest against the New York Islanders, forward Paul Cotter was given a match penalty for an illegal check to the head on defenseman Adam Pelech. 

The play occurred during the second period of the matchup. After Pelech dumped the puck into the Devils' zone, Cotter caught the Islanders blueliner with a shoulder to the head. 

Following the hit, Pelech was noticeably bleeding and later ruled out for the remainder of the contest. 

Paul Cotter was given a match penalty for this hit on Adam Pelech

Pelech got up and was FURIOUS at Cotter 😳 pic.twitter.com/OESobMUf28

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 13, 2025

Cotter, 25, was acquired by the Devils this past off-season from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Alexander Holtz and goaltender Akira Schmid. In 79 games this season with the Devils, Cotter has 16 goals and 22 points. 

In 217 career NHL games over four seasons split between the Golden Knights and Devils, Cotter has 38 goals, 29 assists, 67 points, 109 penalty minutes, and 661 hits. 

Recent Devils News 

Devils Forward Continues To Be Strong AdditionThe New Jersey Devils made several moves this past off-season that helped them turn things around this campaign. Among their notable ones was signing forward Stefan Noesen to a three-year, $8.25 million contract.  New Jersey Devils Star Continues To DominateThe New Jersey Devils picked up an impressive 4-0 win against the New York Rangers on April 6. With this, the Devils have improved to a 41-29-7 record on the season and have won each of their last three games.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Bo Horvat scored late in the second period and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves and the Islanders topped the Devils 1-0 on Sunday.

Horvat intercepted an attempted pass by Devils forward Timo Meier and fired a shot past goalie Jacob Markstrom with 57 seconds left in the middle period for his 28th goal this season. The Islanders held on as Sorokin improved to 30-23-6 with his fourth shutout this season and the 22nd of his career.

This is the second time the 29-year-old Russian netminder has reached the 30-win mark in his five-year NHL career.

The Islanders snapped a three-game losing streak by winning a day after they were eliminated from postseason contention with a shootout loss at Philadelphia. New York made the playoffs the past two seasons, losing to Carolina both times in the first round.

This was the ninth time the Devils were blanked this season.

Devils captain Nico Hischier had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds but shot the puck wide.

New Jersey is heading to the postseason for the second time in three years. The Devils will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round. New Jersey defeated the Rangers in seven games in the opening round two years ago, then lost to Carolina in the second round.

Markstrom made 21 saves for the Devils.

Takeaways

Devils: Fell to 19-16-5 at home. New Jersey is 22-16-2 on the road.

Islanders: Improved to 16-17-7 on the road with their first away win since March 18.

Key moment

Sorokin, who hadn’t played since allowing Alexander Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895th goal last Sunday at UBS Arena, returned from a three-game absence with a lower body injury with a flawless performance.

Key stat

The Islanders are 19-5-6 when scoring first and 15-29-6 when allowing the opening goal.

Up next

Devils: Visiting the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

Islanders: Hosting the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

With only two games remaining on their 2024-25 schedule, the Pittsburgh Penguins don't want to go out with a whimper. 

And their injury-depleted lineup will see some relief on Sunday afternoon.

Forward Philip Tomasino will be back in the lineup on Sunday against the Boston Bruins, who have fallen to the basement of the Eastern Conference with a 2-8 record in their last 10 games. 

Tomasino has been out since Apr. 5 with a concussion, and he will slot into a new spot in the lineup on a fourth line with Vasily Ponomarev and Joona Koppanen. Tristan Jarry will get the nod in goal for the third straight game.

Here is the rest of the Penguins' lineup:

Today's lineup vs. Boston ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/GQyNnAWedI

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 13, 2025

Entering the game, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is one point shy of registering his third consecutive 90-point season and the ninth of his NHL career. Crosby sits at 32 goals and 89 points.

Bryan Rust needs one more goal to hit the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career, and Rickard Rakell - sitting at 34 goals - is one tally shy of setting a new career-high. His 68 points also puts him just one point shy of tying his career-best mark set in 2017-18 with the Anaheim Ducks.

In addition, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk enters Sunday's matchup just two points shy of hitting the 40-point mark for the first time in his NHL career.

'I Would Love To Come Back': After Career Year, Grzelcyk Hopes To Stay In PittsburghWhen defenseman Matt Grzelcyk made the decision to sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer, he did so with the mindset that he'd come in and be granted some opportunity to rediscover his game.

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The New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.

It was the first game for the Islanders following their elimination from playoff contention.

Ilya Sorokin returned to the crease following his injury in the Islanders' 7-6 loss to the Nashville Predators on April 8. 

Jacob Markstrom made his first start since April 8 when he conceded seven goals on 23 shots in a loss to the Boston Bruins.

Here’s how it happened:

Penalties by Casey Cizikas and Nathan Bastian gave both teams a power play in the first half of the period, but neither capitalized.

The Islanders nearly opened the scoring at 11:01, but it was deemed not to be a goal.

Around the 13:30 mark, Pierre Engvall fired a wrist shot off the post, followed by Hudson Fasching’s rebound attempt, which was turned aside by Markstrom.

The Devils outshot the Islanders 10-8 in the period.

A Paul Cotter elbow to Adam Pelech at the 6:00 mark resulted in a five-minute major and match penalty. This was the second time Cotter has been ejected from a game for an illegal hit to the head, the last time coming in 2023.

The hit left Pelech with blood gushing from his nose as he left the ice:

Paul Cotter gets ejected for going up high to #Isles Adam Pelech. pic.twitter.com/tTsLbhwJlP

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) April 13, 2025

He did not return.

The Islanders had one shot on goal and did not score during the five-minute power play.

Bo Horvat found the game’s first goal in the final minute when he intercepted a Timo Meier pass before sniping Markstrom glove-side:

Horvat. 1-0. That was easy. pic.twitter.com/oBfpSEuByI

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) April 13, 2025

This was Horvat’s 28th goal of the season and fourth in his past six games.

The Devils outshot the Islanders 6-5 in the period.

It was an uneventful third period that saw neither side generate much offense.

Sorokin turned aside all 23 shots faced for the shutout and Horvat found the game's lone goal as the Islanders earned their 35th win of the season.

UP NEXT: The Islanders battle the Washington Capitals on Tuesday at 7:30 EST.