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Toews, Sharp help Blackhawks beat Senators

Dec 23, 2007 - 4:35 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Rookie Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp dealt the Ottawa Senators another blow.

Toews assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the game-winner in overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks posted a 4-3 victory over the Senators on Saturday.

Sharp had tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period off a sweet pass from Toews just 38 second into the period.

In the extra session, Sharp returned the favor when he found Toews, who redirected a backhander past goaltender Ray Emery and into the right side of the net at 2:08.

"I just zipped it to Jonathan as hard as I could and he did the rest," Sharp said. "He's got a great touch, and I knew if I could get him the puck, he could put it home."

"It was a quick turnover and I just tried to go hard to the net and try to give Sharpie some time to get the D-man (defenseman) to back off," Toews said. "But he said he was looking for me the whole way, so I just put my stick on the ice and was able to get the shot off."

Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 26 shots for Chicago, which has won two straight overall and four of the last five meetings against Ottawa.

"We definitely should've won but Khabibulin played unbelievable," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "We had some good clear-cut chances to win it on a few occasions, but he made some good saves and that was the difference."

Dany Heatley scored a pair of goals - his 21st and 22nd of the season - for the Senators, who blew a two-goal lead and have lost two straight.

Ottawa took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission after Heatley deflected a wrist shot by Wade Redden at 10:43 of the first period.

Heatley tipped the waist-high shot downward and into the net through the pads of Khabibulin. The play was deemed to be a goal after a brief review by replay officials.

Heatley made it 3-1 just 2:46 into the middle session. Skating into the Chicago zone, Heatley took a pass from Shean Donovan just as he arrived at the net.

The left wing then deked to Khabibulin's right before tucking the puck in behind the sprawled netminder. Heatley now has eight goals and four assists during a seven-game points streak.

Chicago took advantage of a power-play opportunity and got within 3-2 of the 7:21 mark of the second period when defenseman Brent Seabrook drilled a slap shot from left point that zipped through traffic and eluded Emery on the glove side.

The Blackhawks had a chance to draw even at 11:07 of the middle frame after Sharp was awarded a penalty shot on a breakaway. Sharp, however, missed the net to the right.

"The penalty shot was just a bad shot," Sharp said. "It just flubbed off my stick and missed the net. It was a huge game for our team. We played one of the best teams in the league and we were able to squeak out a victory."

Emery stopped 25 shots for the Senators, who were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.