Alfredsson, Spezza scored 2 each, Sens top Sabres for 10th straight win
By John Wawrow, APWednesday, February 3, 2010
Senators extend win streak to 10 by beating Sabres
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in the final minute — including an empty-netter — to extend the Ottawa Senators’ franchise-best winning streak to 10 with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.
Jason Spezza also scored two goals and added an assist, and Brian Elliott stopped 36 shots to win his eighth straight game — matching the franchise mark he set as a rookie last season. Ryan Shannon had two assists in helping the surging Senators close to within three points of the first-place Sabres in the Northeast Division.
Andrej Sekera and Tim Connolly scored 27 seconds apart to tie it in the third period for the Sabres, who lost their eighth in a row to Ottawa, dating to a 4-2 home win on Jan. 6, 2009.
The Senators bounced back after squandering a 2-0 lead. Defenseman Erik Karlsson set up Alfredsson for the decisive goal with a minute remaining. Karlsson wound up at the right point as if he was going to shoot, but instead fed a perfect pass through the slot to Alfredsson, alone at the left post.
The Senators captain sealed the victory by bouncing a shot into an open net with less than 23 seconds left. Ottawa won its sixth straight road game to match a team mark set in closing the 2002-03 season.
Spezza has scored in seven consecutive games, including five since returning from a right knee injury.
After opening the scoring 13:38 into the second period, Spezza gave the Senators a 2-0 lead 6 minutes into the third. He beat goalie Ryan Miller with a bad-angle shot from the lower right circle.
The Sabres responded by scoring twice on consecutive shots.
Sekera drove in from the right point and snapped a shot that sneaked under the crossbar. The goal came off a faceoff to the right of the Senators net after Elliott made a brilliant glove save to foil Thomas Vanek from the slot.
Connolly tied it at 7:44 when his 40-footer beat Elliott high on the glove side.
Elliott stopped 13 shots in the first period. He made a great glove save to rob Jochen Hecht’s backhander from the right circle 10 minutes in. Seven minutes later, he was in a perfect position to get his body in front of a shot from Clarke MacArthur, who got to a loose puck in the slot.
Elliott also got a big assist from teammate Chris Phillips during a scramble in front in the first. Hecht’s shot deflected over Elliott, and the puck rolled down the goalie’s back toward the open net. Phillips used his stick to bat the puck out of the air just before it crossed the line.
The television feed didn’t show an overhead angle replay because the high-definition camera above the Senators net was not working. Sabres spokesman Michael Gilbert said officials did review an overhead view of the play recorded by an analog camera.
NOTES: Senators C Jesse Winchester returned after missing 11 games with a knee injury. … Sabres RW Patrick Kaleta didn’t play after bruising his foot in a 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh on Monday. … Off since a 3-2 overtime win against Montreal on Saturday, the Senators’ three-day break was their longest during a stretch of 22 games in 46 days that began Jan. 1. … The NHL recognizes only that Spezza has scored in five straight games following his 20-game absence caused by a torn knee ligament. Seven consecutive games would surpass the Senators’ record set by Dany Heatley.
