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Vermette notches first hat trick as Senators roll

Apr 4, 2008 - 4:40 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The slumping Ottawa Senators picked up the intensity once they saw their captain take vicious hit.

Antoine Vermette recorded his first career hat trick and set up another goal as the Senators scored seven straight times to erase a deficit and roll to an 8-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday in the "Battle of Ontario."

Dany Heatley scored twice and fellow All-Star Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists for Ottawa (43-30-8), which moved two points ahead of idle Boston (40-28-12) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

"The situation now, the standings are very tight," Vermette said. "At the end of the day, you need points. I think we played with good intensity."

Cody Bass and Dean McAmmond also tallied for the Senators, who lost All-Star Daniel Alfredsson to a head injury in the first period.

Mark Bell and Dominic Moore scored for Toronto, which fell to 1-3-1 in its last five games.

Alfredsson recorded a pair of assists before being leveled by Bell late in the first period. The 36-year-old Swede retreated to the locker room after receiving a shoulder to his head and returned for one shift early in the second before calling it a night.

"It's one of those ones where you catch a guy in a vulnerable position and you can decide to either let up a little bit or follow through, and he decided to follow through," Heatley said. "I don't know, it's borderline dirty when you do that, but I don't want to comment other than that."

Ottawa spread out its offense, scoring three times at even strength, twice on the power play and three shorthanders, which raised its league-leading total to 18 goals while down a skater.

"Special teams are usually what wins you games," Spezza said. "If you can get one shortie, you're pretty happy to get three. Obviously, (it) puts us in the driver's seat."

It was a nice change for the Senators, who had gone 1-4-1 in their previous six games and were shut out in each of their previous two contests.

Bell opened the scoring with his third goal of the season 7 1/2 minutes into the first, but Ottawa took control from there. Heatley began the onslaught at 11:12, firing a one-timer from the slot that beat goaltender Vesa Toskala for his 40th of the campaign.

"It's definitely frustrating when the score is like 6-1," Toskala said.

Spezza put the Senators ahead for good by beating Toskala between the pads during a 2-on-1 rush with 2:45 to go in the first and Bass netted a shorthander at 6:03 of the second for a 3-1 bulge.

Vermette scored twice in a span of 5 1/2 minutes later in the period and, after McAmmond tallied at 2:27 of the third, completed his hat trick with Ottawa's third shorthander 44 seconds later.

After Moore ended the Senators' run of seven consecutive goals during a power play at 6:51, Heatley added his second of the night 23 seconds later for the final margin.

"It's disappointing to end the season at home in this fashion," Toronto left wing Alex Steen said.

Martin Gerber made 26 saves for Ottawa, which was denied a chance to clinch a playoff spot by virtue of Washington's victory earlier Thursday.