Senators earn 10-spot in Buffalo
Written by on February 3rd, 2010 in Latest News.
Ottawa forward Jason Spezza fires a shot over Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller’s shoulder late in the second period on Wednesday. (David Duprey/Associated Press)
It was only fitting that captain Daniel Alfredsson would notch the winner late in the third period as the Ottawa Senators earned the first 10-game winning streak in franchise history with a 4-2 road victory in Buffalo on Wednesday night.
The longest-serving Senator scored with 59.7 seconds left, the beneficiary at the side of the net of a fake slapshot from rookie Erik Karlsson.
Alfredsson had the simple putaway and then notched his 16th of the season into an empty net to seal the result.
Jason Spezza and Brian Elliott appeared set to fuel the Senators yet again to victory well into the third, but the Sabres had scored goals just 27 seconds apart later in the period to rally from a 2-0 deficit.
Spezza scored twice and added an help, and now has scored in each of his last seven games. He bettered a mark he held with Dany Heatley.
Ryan Shannon helped on both Spezza goals.
Ottawa set a new franchise record with a ninth win on Saturday against Montreal and they came out a bit flat after the three-day layoff. Elliott was there to shut the door as the Senators were outshot 13-5 in the frame.
The Senators are now just three points behind Buffalo for the Northeast Division lead and third place in the Eastern Conference. The margin was 11 points just over two weeks ago.
Ottawa can reduce the gap even further on Thursday as they have a home date at Scotiabank Place against the Vancouver Canucks. The Sens will have played three more games than Buffalo by the end of Thursday.
The result kept two other streaks alive. Ottawa has beaten Buffalo eight consecutive times, including all four matchups this season.
For his part, Elliott tied his own team record of eight consecutive victories, set last year. It’s a pretty mean feat considering Elliott has just 66 NHL games to his credit.
Elliott made 34 saves and lowered his goals-against average during the winning streak to a glistening 1.24.
Buffalo had not lost in regulation at HSBC Arena in its previous 12 outings. Andrej Sekera and Tim Connolly scored to rally the Sabres, with Ryan Miller stopping 34 shots.
The Sabres had a bout of sustained pressure midway through the first. Jochen Hecht fired a backhander to test Elliott, while a follow-up attempt by Buffalo finished up bouncing on Ottawa’s goal line until Chris Phillips cleared it to safety.
Buffalo’s momentum was halted by an undisciplined penalty, but Ottawa couldn’t score on the power play. Karlsson’s slapshot from the point was muzzled by Miller.
It was a brief turn in momentum in the period. Connolly forced Elliott to make a pad save, and the Senator netminder later stopped Clarke MacArthur on the doorstep.
In the final minute of the period on a Buffalo power play, Derek Roy’s quick backhander couldn’t get past the Ottawa goalie.
Buffalo kept the pressure on early in the second, but the Senators started to find their legs.
Milan Michalek hit the post, with Miller stretching to make a glove save on Alex Kovalev.
Sabres defenceman Toni Lydman got caught in the Ottawa end, and the puck was turned up ice for the first goal of the game.
Spezza skated down the right side and fired a bullet under the crossbar at 13:38 of the second.
Ottawa had a couple of chances early in the third to add insurance. Kovalev broke through the line of defence but was halted by Miller, while Michalek missed the net on a 2-on-1.
Spezza would get the job done again. After showing what kind of shot he possesses on the first goal, this time it was his stickhandling that was on show.
He manoeuvred through the right circle and outwaited Miller, pulling wide and finding room between the goalie and the post for a 2-0 lead at 5:59 of the third.
It appeared Elliott would never be beat after he stoned Thomas Vanek with a glove save, but seconds later defenceman Sekera took the puck from the point after a clean face off win, skating in from the right side and beating Elliott at 7:17.
Sekera had spent the past several games in the press box, and was inserted in the lineup over veteran Steve Montador.
The Sabres struck again quickly. Buffalo (32-16-7) pounced in a neutral zone battle to establish position. Connolly gained the Ottawa blue line and fired a shot over Elliott’s glove.
Ottawa appeared in deep distress after Spezza took a penalty on the next shift, but it was Ottawa with two fantastic small-handed chances. Alfredsson and Chris Kelly could not beat Miller, but.
The teams traded chances the rest of the way. Spezza had a shot at a hat trick, while rookie defenceman Tyler Myers was foiled in the slot.
Ottawa (32-21-4) appeared headed to their second straight overtime after winning the first eight of their streak in regulation, but Swedes Karlsson and Alfredsson combined to get the job done.
