Mike Condon makes 29 saves, leads Senators to 4 1 win over Penguins

Mike Condon (Pictured) made 29 saves Thursday night as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. (Photo: Mike Condon/ Facebook)

OTTAWA –Mike Condon made 29 saves Thursday night as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

Condon, who was making his eighth consecutive start, had offensive support as Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman, Tom Pyatt and Mark Stone all scored for the Senators (22-14-4).

Conor Sheary scored the lone goal for the Penguins (26-10-5) as Matt Murray, playing for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury Dec. 28, made 29 saves.

This marked the first time the Penguins, coming off a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals Wednesday, lost back-to-back games in regulation since Dec. 14-19, 2015.

The Senators hadn’t played since Sunday and had plenty of incentive for wanting to come out hard against the Penguins. The last time the two teams met on Dec. 5 Ottawa allowed a season-high eight goals against and 46 shots.

Holding a 3-1 lead to start the third, Ottawa held off the Penguins and midway through the period put the game out of reach as Stone scored his 13th of the season in front of 17,769 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Frustration was clearly setting in for the Penguins as head coach Mike Sullivan was given a bench minor and thrown out of the game with just over two minutes remaining.

Condon was at his best in the second, making a number of big saves, including one on Phil Kessel and another on Nick Bonino. He also got a little help when Scott Wilson rang a shot off the post.

Leading 2-0, Ottawa was able to extend its lead midway through the period as Pyatt re-directed Erik Karlsson’s shot over Murray’s right leg.

The only blemish for Condon was giving up a goal with 6.4 seconds remaining in the second when Sheary tipped Evgeni Malkin’s shot to get the Penguins on the board.

The Senators couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game.

Ottawa opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 5:29 as Ryan scored his eighth of the season, beating Murray through the legs. Less than four minutes later the Senators made it 2-0 as Hoffman had a perfect re-direct on Karlsson’s point shot.

Notes: The Senators remain without G Andrew Hammond (ankle) and Clarke MacArthur (concussion). D Fredrik Claesson was a healthy scratch. Pittsburgh D David Warsofsky and C Eric Fehr were healthy scratches.