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Redden, Senators end Sabres' six-game surge

Dec 27, 2007 - 3:54 AM By Dave Whalen PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) - The surging Buffalo Sabres were no match for the Ottawa Senators, who continue to prove they are the elite team in the Eastern Conference.

Dany Heatley scored a goal and set up two others and defenseman Wade Redden had a tally and an assist as the Senators ended the rival Sabres' season-high, six-game winning streak with a 5-3 triumph Wednesday night.

Antoine Vermette, Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson also tallied for Ottawa, which is 7-1-1 over its last nine contests and holds a nine-point advantage for the top spot in the conference standings.

After a scoreless first period, Vermette connected on a backhand from the top of the left circle, handcuffing Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller at 1:42 of the second period. It was Vermette's seventh tally of the season.

Buffalo responded 80 seconds later when Jochen Hecht picked up a loose puck behind the Senators' net and banked a shot off the back of goaltender Martin Gerber.

The Senators took a 2-1 edge at the 8:02 mark of the middle session when Redden notched his 100th career goal. On the power play, Jason Spezza's shot from the right point was stopped by Miller and then deflected off the post.

Redden, who was pinching in on the play, slapped the puck into the open net for his milestone tally. Spezza's assist extended his point streak to eight games.

"It's a nice milestone," Redden said. "It seems like a lot of goals - 100, I'm pretty proud of that. It took me a few games to get it. I got 99 a few weeks ago. It's a nice milestone, we'll try to keep it going."

Fisher closed out the second-period scoring with 1:51 left with his 10th goal of the campaign. Miller stopped Chris Neil's initial attempt, but Neil skated into the netminder just enough to separate him from the puck, allowing Fisher to grab the loose puck and convert.

"This is a team that you give a chance to, a power play to and they can burn you," Heatley said. "We're up 4-1 and a penalty and a mistake and they're back in the game. It was nice to play well through the second period and get that lead."

The Senators did not waste any time padding their advantage in the third period as Alfredsson notched his team-leading 21st tally. Breaking in on a 3-on-2 rush, Heatley made a pass to Redden, who quick got the puck to Alfredsson along the right wing.

Alfredsson fired a quick slap shot past Miller just 26 ticks into the frame to give Ottawa a 4-1 advantage.

"They had a decent chance in our end," Alfredsson said. "Spezza makes a good play and we break out have an odd-man rush. Wade (Redden) makes a great play to draw the defenseman to him so I can walk in all alone. I could pick my spot, we caught them off guard a little bit."

The Sabres managed to cut the deficit to 4-3 with a pair of goals by captain Brian Campbell and Adam Mair in the final session, but the Senators sealed the victory with Heatley's empty-net goal with one second left in the contest to provide the final margin.

"We were on a good roll, we had won six games in a row," Mair said. "Tonight, we wanted to keep that going. We have a tough stretch here, most of January we're on the road."

Gerber made 29 saves, while Miller turned aside just 19 of the 23 shots he faced.