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Lapointe, Senators battle past Penguins

Mar 2, 2008 - 4:00 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Newly acquired Martin Lapointe helped the Ottawa Senators take advantage of a costly penalty.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson recorded two goals and an assist and Lapointe scored a key power-play tally as the Senators posted a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

Antoine Vermette also scored and Dany Heatley added another man-advantage goal for Ottawa (37-23-6), which snapped a three-game losing streak and regained possesion of first place in the Northeast Division.

Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray, who stepped behind the bench on Thursday after relieving John Paddock of his duties, was happy with his team's effort and the result, especially on the eve of an important four-game Western road trip.

"I asked the guys to play their positions and give as much energy as they could," Murray said. "They responded, and now we'll head out west with a win under our belts. I'll tell you one thing - the six-hour flight to Anaheim will be much easier now."

The Senators, who won three of their four meetings with the Penguins this season, remained one point behind the Montreal Canadiens (35-21-9), who skated to a 2-1 victory over the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

"Obviously, this is a big two points for us," Heatley said. "But this time of year, every win is huge, especially against a team close to us in the standings, and with other teams fighting for position."

In a penalty-marred game, the Senators took advantage of a double-minor for cross-checking to Penguins All-Star defenseman Sergei Gonchar to take command late in the second period.

"I thought we played a good game, but the penalty gave them a big opportunity to score a couple of goals," Gonchar said.

With the game tied at 3-3, Lapointe skated into the offensive zone along the right wing boards and slapped a shot that was stopped by goaltender Ty Conklin. But the rebound inadvertently was knocked into the net at 14:40 by Pittsburgh blue-liner Darryl Sydor, giving the Senators the lead.

"Getting two points is always the most important thing, but it's certainly nice to be able to contribute by scoring at a key moment in the hockey game," Lapointe said. "It went in off their own defenseman, but how it went in doesn't matter. They all count the same."

It was Lapointe's first point in two games for Ottawa and fourth tally of the season.

With Gonchar still in the penalty box, the Senators cashed in again as Heatley notched his 31st goal of the season. After receiving a quick pass from Alfredsson, he one-timed a shot over Conklin's glove and off the right goalpost with 3:48 left in the second to make it 5-3.

"Alfredsson made a great pass and I was able to get it off quickly," Heatley said. "I caught the inside of the post and it went in. It turned out to be the game-winner, but every goal was huge tonight."

Alfredsson had given Ottawa a 3-2 lead early in the second with his second goal. He raced in on a shorthanded breakaway 90 seconds into the period and scored his 37th of the season, capping his 10th multi-goal game of 2007-08.

"With that way things have gone for us lately, putting the puck in the net like that will hopefully be a boost for us," said Alfredsson, who has scored in just two of his last 10 games. "We'd been struggling, and goals weren't coming easy, so getting them like that tonight should be something we can build on."

However, Ryan Malone knotted it at 3-3 just 65 seconds later when he tallied for the second time in the contest. It completed the left wing's fourth multi-goal game of the campaign.

"We kept coming back and battling, and despite being down, we always felt like we could win this game," Malone said. "We worked hard, but we came up short. It's as simple as that."

Martin Gerber allowed All-Star Evgeni Malkin's 37th goal - and league-leading 87th point of the season with 5:54 left in the third but stopped 25 shots overall for his 24th win.

Petr Sykora scored a power-play goal and Conklin made 25 saves for the Penguins, who saw their three-game winning streak here end.