• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Anderson, Spezza lift Sens over Lightning

Feb 15, 2012 - 6:03 AM Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Craig Anderson made 28 saves en route to his second shutout of the season, while Jason Spezza recorded his fourth career hat trick as the Ottawa Senators took a 4-0 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Erik Karlsson also lit the lamp for the Senators, who entered Tuesday's contest having dropped eight of their last nine games.

Mathieu Garon allowed three goals on 26 shots in Tampa Bay's fifth loss in seven games.

"I think we missed a lot of opportunities that could have gotten everyone rolling. We definitely got a lot of chances to get back in the game," Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier said. "We worked really hard tonight and it just seemed that the puck didn't go in."

Ottawa took the lead just 1:04 into the first period when Karlsson ripped a hard wrister from the top of the right circle that went through a crowd and into the top-right corner.

The Senator's one-goal lead held until an interference penalty on Tampa Bay's Pavel Kubina led to Spezza's one-timer from the top of the left circle that went through the legs of Garon with 3:28 remaining in the second period.

Ottawa's Kyle Turris was awarded a penalty shot with 8:24 remaining in the third period when he was hooked from behind by Lecavalier, but his backhanded attempt sailed too high, keeping it a two-goal game.

However, just a minute later, Spezza received a pass in the high slot and fanned on a shot before gathering the puck and wristing it past Garon after the goaltender was out of position because of the initial shot attempt.

Spezza sent the puck into the empty net with 1:02 left in regulation to seal the victory and record his first hat trick since March 20, 2010.

"I think we played a pretty consistent game from start to finish," Senators head coach Paul MacLean said. "I think there were some momentum shifts in the game, but I thought Craig Anderson played real well for us and I thought our team handled the momentum shifts and responded real well."

Tampa Bay's best chance to score came in the first period when they were awarded their only two power plays of the game, but Anderson stopped all 10 shots he faced in the frame.

He then turned aside 11 shots in the second period and seven in the third for his 18th career shutout.

Game Notes

Ottawa improved to 14-11-5 on the road this season, while Tampa Bay fell to 15-9-2 at home...The Senators are now 3-0 against the Lightning this year. The teams will meet for the final time on March 6...Tampa Bay's Ryan Malone returned after a seven-game absence and recorded three shots and a minus-2 rating in 19:34 of ice time...Ottawa went 1-for-2 on the power play.