sleddy2008
02-05-2010, 03:45 AM
C/P from tsn.ca
Milan Michalek had a goal and an assist and Jason Spezza extended his team-record goal-scoring streak to eight games as the Ottawa Senators won their 11th straight on Thursday, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-1.
Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots before a crowd of 18,803 at Scotiabank Place to break his own team mark with his ninth win in a row.
His teammates gave him some offensive support early on when Michalek beat surprise Canucks starter Andrew Raycroft on the power play just 94 seconds in.
Michalek then picked up an assist on Spezza's goal.
Chris Kelly added an empty-net goal late and Daniel Alfredsson recorded three assists for the Senators (33-21-4), who halted a four-game slide against the Canucks dating back to March 13, 2004.
Kyle Wellwood scored a late power-play goal for the Canucks (34-20-2).
Spezza, who had a pair of goals in Ottawa's 4-2 win in Buffalo 24 hours earlier, has scored in all six games since returning to the lineup after missing 20 with a knee injury. He also scored in his previous two games before getting hurt.
Ottawa did a good job of shutting down arguably the NHL's top line of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows and. With the victory, the Senators moved within a point of the idle Sabres for the Northeast Division lead. Buffalo has three games in hand.
The one setback for the Senators was the loss of rookie defenceman Erik Karlsson to an upper-body injury late in the second period.
Karlsson was caught by an open-ice hit from Ryan Kesler and appeared to injure his shoulder on the play. He didn't return and there was no immediate word on the extent of the damage.
The Canucks, meanwhile, playing the third of their NHL-record 14-contest road trip, failed to rebound from a 3-2 loss Tuesday in Montreal that stopped their own seven-game winning streak.
Raycroft finished with 18 saves.
With the Senators coming into the game as the league's second-hottest team behind the Washington Capitals, it was something of a surprise to see him given the start in place of Luongo, who allowed three goals on 28 shots in Montreal.
Although Raycroft beat Toronto on Saturday in the opening game of the road trip, he was making just his third start in the last 27 games.
Things didn't start well for him when Mikael Samuelsson took an early high-sticking penalty and Michalek redirected a pass from Alex Kovalev on Ottawa's second shot of the game.
Raycroft, seeking his 100th career victory, had to make several strong saves as the Senators continued to press, outshooting the Canucks 11-3 over the opening 20 minutes. Spezza made it 2-0 late in the period when he and Michalek broke in 2-on-1 and what looked like an attempted pass managed to slip across the goal line.
The Canucks pushed Elliott -- who won eight straight games from March 5-21, 2009 -- a little harder in the second. His best saves didn't come until just before the horn sounded to end the period when Steve Bernier broke in alone, but was denied on his initial shot and the rebound.
Wellwood broke Elliott's bid for a shutout with less than two minutes remaining when he scored with Anton Volchenkov off for slashing, but Kelly put the game out of reach with an empty-netter.
Notes: Senators defenceman Chris Phillips appeared in his 839th career game Thursday, moving him past Wade Redden for second place all-time in team history. ... The Canucks travel to Boston to face the Bruins on Saturday. ... Ottawa will try to make it 12 straight wins in Toronto that same night. ... The Senators improved to 21-8-3 at home. ... The Senators didn't make any changes from the lineup that beat the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednesday, meaning right-winger Shean Donovan and defenceman Alexandre Picard were again healthy scratches. ... Left-winger Darcy Hordichuk and blue-liner Brad Lukowich were scratched from the Canucks' lineup.
Milan Michalek had a goal and an assist and Jason Spezza extended his team-record goal-scoring streak to eight games as the Ottawa Senators won their 11th straight on Thursday, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-1.
Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots before a crowd of 18,803 at Scotiabank Place to break his own team mark with his ninth win in a row.
His teammates gave him some offensive support early on when Michalek beat surprise Canucks starter Andrew Raycroft on the power play just 94 seconds in.
Michalek then picked up an assist on Spezza's goal.
Chris Kelly added an empty-net goal late and Daniel Alfredsson recorded three assists for the Senators (33-21-4), who halted a four-game slide against the Canucks dating back to March 13, 2004.
Kyle Wellwood scored a late power-play goal for the Canucks (34-20-2).
Spezza, who had a pair of goals in Ottawa's 4-2 win in Buffalo 24 hours earlier, has scored in all six games since returning to the lineup after missing 20 with a knee injury. He also scored in his previous two games before getting hurt.
Ottawa did a good job of shutting down arguably the NHL's top line of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows and. With the victory, the Senators moved within a point of the idle Sabres for the Northeast Division lead. Buffalo has three games in hand.
The one setback for the Senators was the loss of rookie defenceman Erik Karlsson to an upper-body injury late in the second period.
Karlsson was caught by an open-ice hit from Ryan Kesler and appeared to injure his shoulder on the play. He didn't return and there was no immediate word on the extent of the damage.
The Canucks, meanwhile, playing the third of their NHL-record 14-contest road trip, failed to rebound from a 3-2 loss Tuesday in Montreal that stopped their own seven-game winning streak.
Raycroft finished with 18 saves.
With the Senators coming into the game as the league's second-hottest team behind the Washington Capitals, it was something of a surprise to see him given the start in place of Luongo, who allowed three goals on 28 shots in Montreal.
Although Raycroft beat Toronto on Saturday in the opening game of the road trip, he was making just his third start in the last 27 games.
Things didn't start well for him when Mikael Samuelsson took an early high-sticking penalty and Michalek redirected a pass from Alex Kovalev on Ottawa's second shot of the game.
Raycroft, seeking his 100th career victory, had to make several strong saves as the Senators continued to press, outshooting the Canucks 11-3 over the opening 20 minutes. Spezza made it 2-0 late in the period when he and Michalek broke in 2-on-1 and what looked like an attempted pass managed to slip across the goal line.
The Canucks pushed Elliott -- who won eight straight games from March 5-21, 2009 -- a little harder in the second. His best saves didn't come until just before the horn sounded to end the period when Steve Bernier broke in alone, but was denied on his initial shot and the rebound.
Wellwood broke Elliott's bid for a shutout with less than two minutes remaining when he scored with Anton Volchenkov off for slashing, but Kelly put the game out of reach with an empty-netter.
Notes: Senators defenceman Chris Phillips appeared in his 839th career game Thursday, moving him past Wade Redden for second place all-time in team history. ... The Canucks travel to Boston to face the Bruins on Saturday. ... Ottawa will try to make it 12 straight wins in Toronto that same night. ... The Senators improved to 21-8-3 at home. ... The Senators didn't make any changes from the lineup that beat the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednesday, meaning right-winger Shean Donovan and defenceman Alexandre Picard were again healthy scratches. ... Left-winger Darcy Hordichuk and blue-liner Brad Lukowich were scratched from the Canucks' lineup.