By Canadian Press

Josh Norris scores twice in return from injury, Senators beat Capitals 6-1

Oct 18, 2023 | 7:59 PM

OTTAWA — Josh Norris scored a pair of goals in his season debut Wednesday night, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

Norris had missed the first three games of the regular season and didn’t play in the pre-season, but looked solid in his return. The Senators centre was coming off shoulder surgery last January.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Artem Zub, Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson also scored for the Senators (3-1-0), who picked up their third straight win. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves.

The Capitals, playing their first road game of the season, often dominated play in the opening period but the Senators capitalized on their chances and some poor defensive coverage.

John Carlson scored the Capitals’ lone goal. Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 shots.

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Trailing 5-1 in the third, the Capitals managed just three shots on goal while Ottawa extended its lead on a laser of a shot from Sanderson.

Ottawa scored three unanswered goals in the second to take that 5-1 lead and never looked back.

Norris picked up his second by beating Kuemper glove side two minutes in. Zub scored with a shot from the blue line three minutes later. 

Giroux picked up his first of the season after some poor coverage by the Capitals allowed him to drive to the net uncontested for an easy tap-in.

Tarasenko opened the scoring four minutes in after taking a pass from Ridly Greig to beat Kuemper, but it was Norris’ power-play goal midway through the period that brought the crowd to its feet.

MILESTONE FOR BACKSTROM

Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom skated in his 1,100th career NHL game Wednesday. Backstrom made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2007, against the Thrashers in Atlanta. Backstrom scored his first NHL goal against the Senators that season, beating the late Ray Emery for what would prove to be the game-winning goal in a 4-1 Caps victory.

NOTES: Zack MacEwen was a healthy scratch for the Senators. Lucas Johansen and Aliaksei Protas did not dress for the Capitals.

UP NEXT: The Senators will host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, while Washington will head to Montreal to take on the Canadiens on Saturday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2023.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press