• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Heatley, Spezza spark Senators past Islanders

Dec 6, 2006 - 3:20 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza helped guide the Ottawa Senators to their fourth consecutive win.

Heatley scored two goals and Spezza added a goal and two assists to lead the Senators to a 4-2 triumph over the New York Islanders.

Joe Corvo had a goal and assist and fellow defenseman Andrej Meszaros notched two assists for Ottawa, which has outscored opponents, 19-5, during its streak.

"The most important thing that we are doing now is working hard both ways," Senators coach Bryan Murray said. "As a result, we are starting to win on a consistent basis. We got the power play going now. It is much better than it was. Our defense is really showing good mobility, too."

The Senators opened with two goals in the first period. Heatley scored his 17th goal just over 4 1/2 minutes into the contest, putting a rebound past goaltender Mike Dunham.

Spezza added a power-play tally with just over one minute to play in the opening session, blasting a slap shot from the left circle that beat Dunham to the stick side.

"I think they were looking for me to pass the puck," Spezza said. "I stepped up the half wall and they gave me a lot of room."

The Islanders got on the board in the second period when Andy Hilbert scored his first goal of the season on a low backhand past the glove side of goaltender Martin Gerber.

New York closed to 3-2 on Jason Blake's 15th goal midway through the third period. However, Heatley answered with just under eight minutes to play.

"Obviously, they are a great hockey team," Blake said. "They capitalized on their chances and we didn't. We got outshot in the first period (17-4). They just came out harder than we did and competed for pucks a little more than we did."

Gerber stopped 24 shots for Ottawa, which was 2-for-4 on the power play.

"(The Islanders) had puck possession," Gerber said. "They didn't get too many shots, but they were around the net. I had to stay alert. I thought our power-play goals were pretty important. We had a solid effort."

Replacing Rick DiPietro, who sat out with a lower-body injury, Dunham made 31 saves for New York, which was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.