Brady Tkachuk thrilled to score OT winner in city full of memories

WINNIPEG — There was one group of Winnipeg fans who were really happy when Brady Tkachuk scored the Ottawa Senators’ winner at 2:11 of overtime against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.

Tim Stutzle, with his third assist of the game, sent the puck across to Tkachuk on a two-on-one and he put a one-timer past Connor Hellebuyck.

Tkachuk had family in the stands, including his grandfather on his mother’s side.

“It’s nice to play in front of my grandpa, family, and it’s just nice to be here,” he said.

“I think there’s a lot of memories here with our family, my dad, and my grandpa and my mom being from here. So yeah, I just always get excited playing here.”

Tkachuk’s father, Keith, was a star with the original Jets franchise.

The goal was Tkachuk’s second of the season. He missed 20 games because of an Oct. 13 thumb injury and returned Nov. 28. He also has nine assists.

“It’s been a grind to a certain extent,” he said. “And yeah, I’m just really happy with the two points at the end of the day.”

Nick Cousins also scored and Jake Sanderson had a goal and assist for the Senators (15-13-4).

Linus Ullmark stopped 23 shots for Ottawa, which is 2-4-0 in its last six games.

“They kind of had us on our heels and I loved how we stuck with it in the third period,” Senators head coach Travis Green said.

“I’ve been saying it a lot. We’ve liked the way we’ve played as of late, and it’s not easy to stick with your game when you’re not getting the wins. You know you’re playing decently, so I was happy with what we did.”

Defencemen Neal Pionk and Logan Stanley scored for the Jets (15-15-2).

Hellebuyck made 28 saves in his second game back from injury for Winnipeg, which is 1-3-1 in its last five games.

After no scoring in the first period, Cousins made it 1-0 at 10:47 of the second. Winnipeg followed up with goals from Pionk and Stanley late in the frame.

With Ullmark pulled for the extra attacker, Sanderson pushed it to overtime when his shot went off Jets centre Mark Scheifele’s stick with 1:54 left in the third.

Having success from a comeback was a good feeling, especially with a late goal, Tkachuk said.

“I think we lead the league in losses by one goal, and we made an emphasis at six-on-five that we weren’t gonna get denied,” he said. “So I mean, it took a little puck luck, but I think we’re due for that.”

The Senators lost 3-2 to Minnesota last Saturday when Joel Eriksson Ek scored with 24 seconds left in the third period.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel thought his team let a victory slip away.

“These are the games you’ve got to learn to win. You’ve got to learn to win,” he said.

“This is something that we have to find a way at the very end. Either to get that third goal or, the other side of it is not to allow the six-on-five goal against. We’ve got to find a way, however that is.”

Stanley, whose sixth goal of the season surpassed the total of five goals he had in his first five NHL seasons, agreed with Arniel’s assessment.

“It was a good effort. Very winnable hockey game that we found a way to lose,” he said.

Winnipeg went 1-2-1 during its four-game homestand and now has to seek some momentum on a three-game road trip that begins Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues.

“We’re going to have to just go into St. Louis and we’re going to have to make sure we gain some points,” Arniel said.

“We didn’t do the job here at home so we’re going to have to make sure that we go out on the road and get some.”

END OF DUBIOUS STREAK

If there was one bright spot for Winnipeg, it’s that it didn’t allow a power-play goal after surrendering at least one in eight consecutive games.

The Senators were 0-for-3 with the man advantage and the Jets went 0-for-2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2025.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press