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Heatley's hat trick powers Senators past Maple Leafs

Oct 27, 2006 - 2:58 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Dany Heatley and the Ottawa Senators have feasted on the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.

Heatley scored three goals and Jason Spezza and defenseman Joe Corvo tallied five points apiece as the Senators posted a 7-2 victory over the Maple Leafs.

All three of Heatley's goals came in the second period, when Ottawa scored five times. It was Heatley's fourth career three-goal game.

"When we're skating and moving the puck, using each other, then we're going to do a lot of damage," Heatley said. "Patrick Eaves brings a lot to the line and in that regard, he's always up front and he was there tonight. When we're losing, we take it one game at a time and we're winning right now and it's still one game at a time."

Spezza and Corvo set team records in the victory. Spezza broke the franchise mark with four points in the second period.

"We knew they were going to come out strong, but we did a better job by coming out stronger and not letting them dictate the play," Spezza said. "It was a total team effort and I'm just happy to be able to contribute."

Corvo entered the record books with five points by a defenseman in a game.

"I felt since I had been on the ice for their two goals and it kind of let them back into the game, I knew I had to make it up," Corvo said. "Everything I touched seemed to turn to gold after that. I'll cherish this tonight before getting back to work tomorrow. The entire team played well and we'll take it for as long as it lasts."

The Senators defeated the Maple Leafs in the second game of a home-and-home series after posting a 6-2 win Tuesday. In that contest, Ottawa scored the first five goals, including one by Heatley.

"We had a hard game at home," Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "Obviously, both these games were not good games. Our team, from our standpoint, gave up a lot of chances and when you're playing a team with Ottawa's type of forward rush and you're trading chances with them, you're bound to be in for a long night."

Ray Emery stopped 29 shots for Ottawa, which has 21 goals in its last three contests after scoring just 10 in its first six.

Bates Battaglia and Jeff O'Neill scored for the Maple Leafs, which lost for the second time in three meetings against the Senators. Raycroft struggled, turning aside 33-of-40 shots for Toronto.

"It's tougher if you lose 2-1 and give up two goals from the red line," Raycroft said. "This is what happens when one team plays their best and the other team doesn't. I understand this can happen and I'm very realistic about this. Tomorrow morning, the sun is going to be somewhere, in the clouds or in a clear sky, so I'll wake up and go to practice and try to get better."

Raycroft has allowed 12 goals in the past three days to Ottawa, including five Tuesday before he was pulled in the third period.

"You don't want to get taken out of a game, but I felt I was making good saves," Raycroft said. "I'm not going to quit out there or try and take the easy way out. Everybody else has to play the third, so my feeling is I've got to be out there. I'd rather continue to work hard than to sit on the bench and leave it to somebody else."