For the past two seasons, Matthew Highmore had signed one-year, two-way contracts with the Ottawa Senators. Highmore's NHL career appeared to be at the tale end after he only played in two games with the St. Louis Blues in the 2022-23 season.
Last season, Highmore only played in seven games with the Senators and recorded just two assists. Entering this season, it was unclear when Highmore would play with the Senators at 28 years old.
With the Senators getting rattled by injuries, the Senators recalled up Highmore this past weekend. While Highmore didn't record any points in Saturday's 5-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Highmore lifted the Senators yesterday against the Dallas Stars, and got a huge monkey off his back in the win.
Highmore scores first goal since April 2022
Just 21 seconds into the third period with the Senators up 2-1, Highmore scored a goal against Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith, which would turn out to be the game-winning goal in the Senators' win 3-2 yesterday against the Stars.
Cuzzy 👉 Highzy 👉 🥅 👉 🚨#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/cp9YRA7ICj
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 13, 2025
"All I want to do is help the team and be part of wins," Highmore said in his postgame interview following the win against the Stars.
The third period goal was Highmore's first NHL goal since April 21, 2022. It was also Highmore first game-winning goal since May 15, 2021. Both goals came when Highmore was a member of the Vancouver Canucks.
Highmore's last game-winning goal in 2021 came when current Senators head coach Travis Green was then the head coach of the Canucks. Green was thrilled for Highmore to score for the first time in years.
"It was nice to see him get a goal for sure," Green said postgame after the win.
The Senators and Highmore will return to action tomorrow night as they hit the road for a showdown against the New York Islanders at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tomorrow is the third and final meeting this season against the Islanders, and the first coming at UBS Arena.