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Spezza's hat trick propels Senators past Penguins

Dec 7, 2008 - 12:05 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Jason Spezza recorded his second career hat trick as the Ottawa Senators cooled off the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

Alex Auld stopped 17 shots and Dany Heatley notched a pair of assists for the Senators, who won for just the fourth time in their last 10 games (4-4-2).

"It was nice to see Spezza have a good game like that," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "I think overall today, we did a good job with the puck. We didn't turn it over much and we forced them to play in their own end quite a bit. The only time they had some possession was on the power play, and our penalty-killers did a good job. And (Auld) played well, too."

Spezza hopes the win over the reigning Eastern Conference champion Penguins can be a springboard for the rest of the season.

"They're one of the best teams in the East, and they're a team that we know if you want to win, you're probably going to have to go through, so we just have to make up points in the standings," Spezza said. "We've kind of put ourselves in a bit of a spot, and now we're slowly getting ourselves out of it."

Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal each registered a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who had won 10 of their previous 14 (10-2-2).

Spezza scored his ninth goal of the season on a wraparound at 4:01 of the second, then gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead by blasting a loose puck in the slot past goaltender Dany Sabourin nearly five minutes later.

"We knew we had to have a good game, and for me, it's nice to get a few goals and contribute to the win," Spezza said. "All in all, I thought we played a great team game and did a really good job."

Pittsburgh pulled within 2-1 as Staal tipped in a pass from captain Sidney Crosby with 3:43 left in the period.

Spezza restored the two-goal bulge with 39 seconds remaining in the period on a fluke play. His pass from behind the net hit Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang's skate, deflected upward and bounced off Sabourin's arm and in.

"(Spezza) passed it and (Letang) was going to put some pressure on him and it hit his skate and bounced off of me," Sabourin said. "It's a tough play because I have to get going for the pass, but it was a good bounce for them.

"Sometimes when you're hot, you find the spots or you get some good bounces, and when you're a good player like him, you tend to get more sometimes."

Spezza's final tally proved to be a crucial, as Malkin scored while shorthanded at 9:12 of the third. The Penguins pulled Sabourin with 40 seconds left but could not get the equalizer.

"Being .500 is not where we want to be," Senators coach Craig Hartsburg said. "We've climbed back and now we want to move forward. It was a big win for our team."

Sabourin stopped 28 shots for Pittsburgh, which managed just five shots in the third period.

"I thought we played really well defensively, especially when you look at who we were playing against," Auld said. "An effort like that helps build the confidence, and we're feeling pretty good about our game right now."

"We didn't start well and Spezza had a big second period and gave them the lead," Crosby said. "It's a matter of momentum a lot of times, and we just weren't able to get any."