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Alfredsson, Sens creep closer to Bruins

Mar 27, 2012 - 4:18 AM Winnipeg, MB (Sports Network) - Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:33 to play in the third period as the Ottawa Senators skated past the Winnipeg Jets, 6-4, at MTS Centre on Monday.

Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist and Chris Neil, Milan Michalek and Kaspars Daugavins also scored for the Sens, who have won two straight. Craig Anderson had 44 saves in the victory while Erik Karlsson finished with three assists and Jason Spezza added two helpers.

The Senators moved within three points of the first-place Boston Bruins in the Northeast Division with five games remaining. Ottawa also remained seventh in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of eighth-place Washington.

"It was next goal wins and up and down the rink," Senators head coach Paul MacLean said. "And I thought their team was real competitive tonight and you could tell how important the game was to them and as well our team. It was important to us. I thought that showed true of both teams and we got the puck to the front of their net a little more often."

Antti Miettinen scored two goals, Kyle Wellwood had a goal and two assist and Evander Kane contributed a goal and a helper for the Jets, who have dropped four of their last five. Ondrej Pavelec gave up five goals on 34 shots in defeat.

Winnipeg's playoff chances took a hit, as the Jets are six points back of the Caps for the last playoff spot in the East with six games remaining.

With the game tied at four, the Sens took the lead for good when Filip Kuba ripped a slap shot from the left point that was kicked out by Pavelec but Alfredsson was there to ram home the rebound just 24 seconds after giving up the lead.

The Jets pulled Pavelec with under a minute to play, but failed to find the tying goal and Michalek put the puck into the empty net with 33.4 seconds left to seal the win for Ottawa.

The Senators opened the scoring with just 26 seconds remaining on the first period clock after Chris Phillips hit Spezza in stride with a long pass up the middle. Spezza entered the offensive zone, swung to the right wing and put a wrist shot on net that was stopped by Pavelec, but Neil slammed it home amid a scramble in front.

The Sens made it 2-0 1:53 into the second frame after a quick wrister from Daugavins beat Pavelec clean, but the Jets came back with two straight goals to tie it.

Miettinen got his first of the game on the power-play at 3:02 when he slammed home a rebound off a point shot from Zach Bogosian, and Wellwood found the back of the net at 6:54 when he cleaned up a loose puck off a wrap-around attempt and snapped it home.

Turris, though, gave the Sens the lead right back at 3-2 with 2:34 left in the second period when he put home an easy tap-in to the right of the net off a perfect feed from Spezza.

But, the resilient Jets tied it up again just 20 seconds later after Jim Slater beat Anderson to a loose puck behind the net and swept it to Miettinen, who put it into the empty cage for his second tally of the game.

Alfredsson got his first goal 2:54 into the third frame after he fired it home from in close off a defensive turnover by the Jets to make it 4-3 Ottawa, but Winnipeg tied it at four with 2:57 to play in the game after Kane jammed it past Anderson amid a plethora of skates and sticks in the crease.

"Well tough game," Jets head coach Claude Noel said. "I don't think you can trade chances with their team and expect you're going to win the game. There were a lot of moments in that game where it was timely goals, timely situations where you could have had turning points, and we never got it done."

Game Notes

The Senators improved to 19-13-6 on the road this season...Winnipeg finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage, while the Senators went 0-for-2 on the power play...The Jets will host the New York Rangers on Thursday, while the Sens will visit Philadelphia on Saturday.