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Senators snap skid against reeling Flyers

Feb 20, 2008 - 5:51 AM By Mark Robinson PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OTTAWA (Ticker) - The Philadelphia Flyers finally picked up a point but Antoine Vermette and All-Star Jason Spezza gave the Ottawa Senators a much-needed win.

Philadelphia's losing streak reached eight games as Vermette and Spezza both scored in a shootout to lift the Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Flyers on Tuesday night.

"I thought we were the better team throughout the first 60 minutes, so obviously it's nice to get the two points." Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said.

"You never know which way it will go once you get to a shootout and either team could have won it in overtime. So getting the shootout win is great for us after playing a strong game against a desperate hockey team."

After Alfredsson missed wide to start the shootout, Philadelphia rookie Claude Giroux was denied by goaltender Ray Emery.

In the next round, Vermette converted and was answered by All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen. Spezza then put the onus on Daniel Briere to extend the shootout, but he lost control of the puck and Emery smothered it to end the game and halt Ottawa's three-game losing streak.

"Getting the shootout win is great for us, but it probably shouldn't have gotten that far." Spezza said. "We allowed them to claw back into it after we had them down 2-0. So we can look at it now and say it was a big win in the shootout, but we also know we have to be better."

Senators center Chris Kelly opened the scoring with a shorthanded tally at the 2:38 mark of the first period. He intercepted a pass along the boards in the Ottawa zone and skated in alone before beating goaltender Martin Biron with a deke to make it 1-0.

"We wanted to come out strong and get the first goal, so that one was a big one for us." Kelly said. "I just moved up and intercepted the pass, and from there, I only had one guy to beat for the breakaway."

The Senators doubled their lead at 15:04 of the middle session when Vermette converted a pass from Cory Stillman for his 14th goal of the season. Stillman, standing at the half-boards, threaded a pass through traffic to Vermette, who deflected it past Biron. Defenseman Wade Redden also drew an assist on the play.

"I saw (Vermette) moving toward the net and I knew I had to snap it quickly in order to hit him just right." Stillman said. "Luckily he and the puck arrived at net the same time and he tipped it by Biron."

The Flyers halved the deficit in the second period with a shorthanded goal. Timonen redirected a pass from R.J. Umberger over the left shoulder of Emery with 42 seconds remaining in the session to notch his eighth goal of the season.

"That shorthanded goal gave us some life for sure," Umberger said. "We talked about it between periods and knew we could build on that and try to score early in the third to tie it up."

Scottie Upshall evened the game at 2-2 after deflecting a rising slap shot off the stick of defenseman Jim Dowd. Upshall got his stick on the high shot and directed it downward into the net and past Emery.

The play was briefly reviewed by officials to determine if Upshall's stick was too high, but the goal stood to tie it at the 3:09 mark of the third period.

"I didn't think my stick was high, and I was hoping they'd be able to tell on the replay." Upshall said. "It was great to be able to get the tie from that, but it stings a little because obviously we wanted the win so we could end this streak, turn things around and get on a roll."

Philadelphia is 0-7-1 during its losing streak.