Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson of Whitefish, Montana scored his first National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner on Saturday. He accomplished the feat in a 4-3 Senators win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. With the goal, the Senators won their first game of the series, but still trail the best out of seven series three games to one. A loss in overtime in game four, would have meant the Senators would have been eliminated.
Inside look at the overtime winner
Sanderson scored an unassisted goal with two minutes and 18 seconds left in the first overtime period. The Maple Leafs were attempting to clear the puck, Sanderson kept the puck in the zone, and scored past Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
In the regular season, Sanderson has two career overtime winners. The first came in a 3-2 Senators win over the Washington Capitals on April 7, 2024. Sanderson scored from Ridly Greig of Lethbridge, Alberta and Brady Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona at the 41 second mark in the extra period. The second came in a 5-4 Senators win over the Vancouver Canucks on December 21, 2024. Sanderson scored from Tim Stutzle of Viersen, Germany, and Shane Pinto of Franklin Square, New York of the 15 second mark of the extra period.
Who contributed to the Senators in the game four win?
Sanderson was the only Senators player with a multi-point game as he had one goal and one assist for two points. The other three Senators goal scorers were Pinto, David Perron of Sherbrooke, Quebec, and Stutzle.
Overtime statistics
Sanderson is the third player in this series to score an overtime winner. He follows Maple Leafs forward Max Domi of Winnipeg, Manitoba (in a 3-2 Toronto game two win), and defenseman Simon Benoit of Laval, Quebec (in a 3-2 Toronto game three win).
Benoit and Sanderson are two of three defensemen to score an overtime winner in the 2025 playoffs. The other is Simon Nemec of Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, who accomplished the feat in a 3-2 New Jersey Devils double overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
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