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Vanek's hat trick propels Sabres past Senators

Feb 13, 2008 - 5:22 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Thomas Vanek recorded his first career hat trick as the Buffalo Sabres scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Clarke MacArthur and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist apiece and All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell and Jochen Hecht each set up a pair of tallies for Buffalo, which improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine games.

"It felt great to finally get a few bounces my way and get the hat trick," Vanek said. "I felt good out there tonight, and as a team, we worked hard for a big win here in their building."

"This is a good win for us against one of the top teams in the league, and the top team in the East," Pominville said. "We know the skill they have and we didn't give them much. Our penalty kill worked well and we played a good, strong road game. We're definitely pleased with the win."

Randy Robitaille scored a power-play goal for Ottawa, which saw its modest two-game winning streak come to an end. The Senators had lost eight of their previous 11 games.

"We got outplayed badly throughout the game," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "They got 40 shots on us in our building, and you're not going to win too many games giving up as much as we did tonight."

Vanek opened the scoring 3:44 into the second period.

Skating down the wing, Vanek blasted the puck from the right faceoff circle over the right shoulder of goaltender Ray Emery to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

"I was coming in fast and wanted to get a hard shot off that might catch (Emery) going the other way," Vanek said. "We knew the first goal would be a big one, so luckily, it went in."

Vanek doubled the advantage just 26 seconds into the third period. With Buffalo on the power play, Campbell's wrist shot from the slot was stopped by Emery, but Vanek gathered the rebound and backhanded it into the net.

Robitaille halved the deficit 3 1/2 minutes later, deflecting a shot by defenseman Andrej Meszaros past goaltender Ryan Miller for his ninth of the campaign.

Cory Stillman, who along with defenseman Mike Commodore was making his debut with the Senators after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, also received an assist on the play.

"Obviously, losing the game isn't the way you want to start with a new team, but for the most part, I felt pretty good tonight," Stillman said. "It'll take some time to adjust for (Commodore) and I, but hopefully not long."

That was all the Senators could muster against Miller, who finished with 25 saves.

Ottawa coach John Paddock was not pleased with the result - or his team's effort.

"I'm not quite sure if we thought the trade we made yesterday guaranteed a win tonight and a Stanley Cup this spring," Paddock said. "But we didn't play very well, and that's what it looked like."

MacArthur regained Buffalo's two-goal advantage just 33 seconds after Robitaille's goal, deflecting Hecht's shot from the slot past Emery for his seventh of the season.

"We knew coming into this game tonight that we'd have to play our best hockey," MacArthur said. "I think we played close to it. There's always room for improvement, but we're pleased with tonight's effort, and obviously the result."

Vanek completed his hat trick with just under four minutes remaining with his 20th goal of the campaign and seventh in as many games.

Pominville scored 54 seconds later, squeezing a shot between Emery's pads for his 16th goal.

Making his third consecutive start, Emery finished with 34 saves.