Tkachuk lifts Senators past Flames with OT goal

Tkachuk’s goal came after he missed the final eight minutes of the second period after being shot high by Mikael Backlund. Tkachuk lost a tooth and required nine stitches to close a cut on his lip.

“I’m not feeling too well,” Tkachuk said. “I’m not feeling too well right now either. Thank God we’ve already got the Christmas pictures done. It’s going to be a fun few days.”

Nick Cousins ​​and Ridly Greig scored for the Senators (17-13-2), who have won seven of eight. Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for his seventh straight win.

“I think there’s been games this year where maybe we outplayed the other team and we didn’t find a way to win,” Cousins ​​said. “Karma was on our side tonight because it probably wasn’t our best. It was an ugly game from both sides. Not much happened out there. Good teams find a way to win and big goals by ‘Chucky’ in overtime.”

Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau scored and Vladar made 26 saves for the Flames (15-11-7), who have lost three of four and nine of 12.

“That’s the way we play,” Coleman said. “Low-scoring, tight-checking. That’s going to lead to some close games. We’ve found ways to come back. We’ve also got to figure out ways to control leads. We’re going to be in those close games. Especially at home, it feels like we’re finding overtime all the time, so we’ve got to find ways to come out with two points instead of one.”