Ottawa Senators beat Utah Mammoth 4-2 as Cousins scores late winner, first back-to-back wins in a month

The Ottawa Senators beat the Utah Mammoth 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night, with Nick Cousins scoring the winner with 2:18 left in the third period, deflecting a Thomas Chabot shot past the goalie. Shane Pinto added an empty-net goal in his 300th NHL game to seal the win, giving the Senators back-to-back victories for the first time since October 12. (Photo: file photo of an Ottawa Senators game.)

Cousins breaks the tie late; Pinto seals it in his 300th game

Fabian Zetterlund opened the scoring on the power play at 5:27 of the first period, and Michael Amadio put Ottawa up 2-1 at 6:29 of the third, finishing a pass from Claude Giroux. Utah answered both times — Clayton Keller tied it at 9:57 of the first, and Barrett Hayton tied it again at 9:53 of the third. Cousins broke the deadlock with 2:18 remaining, scoring his second goal of the season and his first since October 8, before Pinto's empty-netter with 16 seconds left made it 4-2.

Ersson makes 30 saves for a third straight win in place of injured Ullmark

Goaltender Samuel Ersson made 30 saves for his third consecutive victory in place of the injured Linus Ullmark (lower body), allowing just four goals over the three games. Ottawa was outshot 32-21 but still took the win, improving to 11-6-1 and winning three of its past four. Utah fell to 10-7-1, finishing a five-game road trip at 2-2-1.

Pre-game tribute to three former Senators; Capitals visit Tuesday

Before the game, the club honoured former Senators Wade Redden, Mike Fisher and Craig Anderson, with the sellout crowd of 17,054 rising to its feet. The Senators next host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, in what is scheduled to be Alex Ovechkin's second-last appearance in Ottawa; the Mammoth visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.