Senators’ Giroux haunts Penguins with late goal after double review

The Pittsburgh Penguins still can’t slow Claude Giroux down.

And even when they trip him, he finds a way to score big goals.

Giroux, the longtime Philadelphia Flyers captain who now plays for the Ottawa Senators, scored the game-winning goal against his longtime rivals after fighting through a trip by former Senators star Erik Karlsson.

The goal counted after two video reviews and gave Giroux 78 points against the Penguins in his career, tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most in the salary cap era, and the Senators a 3-2 victory.

“It came to me and I saw I was by myself, so I tried to make a move and I got tripped,” the 38-year-old said. “Not as fun as people think, but it gets the job done, so we’ll take it.”

The goal came late in the third period and broke a 2-2 tie. It started when Giroux collected a slick batted-puck pass from Tim Stutzle and skated in on a breakaway. Karlsson then tripped Giroux, sending the veteran centre and the puck sliding towards the goal. Giroux slammed hard into the net as the puck slid past Arturs Silovs and in.

Officials called Karlsson for tripping, then initiated a review to determine if the puck entered the net legally. After that review determined that the goal should count, the Penguins then challenged the play for goaltender interference. That challenge failed, giving the Senators a power play.

To add salt to the wound, Giroux won two big defensive-zone faceoffs in the final seconds to complete a road win. The Senators have now won four games in a row as they try to stay in the playoff race.

“I thought that line had the puck a lot, so it’s nice to see them get a couple (of goals) in the third and get rewarded,” Senators head coach Travis Green said post-game. “Good things happen when you go to the net.”

Ottawa’s Stutzle scored in his third straight game and Michael Amadio scored his first goal since Dec. 11 at Columbus. Stutzle has four goals in his last five games.

Linus Ullmark made 14 saves for the Senators, who won their fourth straight game. Ottawa has points in nine of its last 11 games overall. Ullmark joined Tony Esposito and Bob Froese as the only goalies in NHL history to win each of their first eight games against Pittsburgh.

Tommy Novak scored for Pittsburgh, and Egor Chinakhov added a goal and an assist. Chinakhov has seven goals in 16 games with Pittsburgh since he was traded from Columbus. Evgeni Malkin continued a six-game point streak with an assist.

Arturs Silovs stopped 28 shots for the Penguins, who had their six-game win streak halted. The Penguins also had a nine-game point streak snapped. Pittsburgh has points in 16 of its last 20 games overall.

Ottawa outshot Pittsburgh 31-16, including a 9-3 margin in the second period, the second-fewest in a period this season for the Penguins.

Amadio and Stutzle scored Ottawa’s first two goals off Pittsburgh turnovers.

The Sens are visiting the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.