Crouse's hat trick lifts Coyotes to win over Senators

OTTAWA — There was a collective sigh of disappointment from the Ottawa Senators on Monday night following a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

It was hard to argue that the Senators didn't deserve a better fate considering they dominated play for much of the night, but a couple of mistakes were the difference.

"I think there was a stretch over 20-some minutes that they didn’t have a shot and we’ve got to find ways to score and our power play can't give up a shorthanded goal," said Senators coach D.J. Smith. "We tie it in the third after having the puck the whole time and we make a real careless play and you lose the game."

Give the Coyotes credit, they capitalized on their chances.

With just 15 shots on goal they didn't generate a lot of offence, but when the Senators faltered they took advantage.

Tied 2-2 after the first period, the Coyotes took the lead when Lawson Crouse scored his third of the game, shorthanded, late in the second after taking advantage of a Senators giveway and winning a foot race for a loose puck to break in alone.

Ottawa tied things up at the seven-minute mark of the third when Connor Brown buried a Brady Tkachuk rebound, but 16 seconds later the Coyotes regained the lead as Nick Schmaltz took a pass in front and beat a sprawled Gustavsson.

The Coyotes (19-36-4) forward has 15 points in his last six games (6 goals, nine assists)

"Yeah it's on the guys on the ice," said Tkachuk. "It's happening to our line in back-to-back games so we've got to learn from those and not let it happen again. The momentum was on our side and that completely deflates the group so as a line we have to buckle up in those situations and have to learn from that. It's definitely frustrating."

The Coyotes beat the Senators 8-5