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Phillips' overtime tally completes Senators' comeback

Dec 31, 2006 - 5:54 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Ray Emery may have had his shutout streak snapped, but the Ottawa Senators found a way to come away with another victory.

Chris Kelly scored late in the third period and defenseman Chris Phillips tallied 2:39 into overtime as the Senators posted their fourth straight win, a 3-2 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Entering with shutouts in each of his previous two games, Emery continued his streak until late in the first period, when Alex Steen netted a power-play goal with 66 seconds remaining. The tally, which was Toronto's first in 15 man advantages against Ottawa this season, halted Emery's scoreless run at 149 minutes, 41 seconds.

Emery, however, was more focused on getting the victory.

"We were waiting for them to make a mistake, and they really didn't," Emery said. "When they did, (goaltender Andrew) Raycroft was big. We fell behind and seemed to turn it up and battled and scrambled to get that goal to tie it up. And in OT, Philly made some magic. It was a big win for us."

Dean McAmmond drew the Senators even with a shorthander 5 1/2 minutes into the middle period, but Boyd Devereaux restored the Maple Leafs' lead with 6:20 to go in the third.

"It was a big thrill," said Devereaux, who has two points in two games since being recalled from the minors on Thursday. "It's unfortunate that it didn't turn out to be the winner."

However, Kelly forged a 2-2 tie at 17:54, receiving a pass from along the left wing boards by defenseman Wade Redden and beating Raycroft from alone on the right side of the net.

"It was a great play," Kelly said. "(Brian) McGrattan got the puck down low and Wade made a great play to pinch there and a great pass. I just kind of tapped it in."

"He plays hard when the game is on the line," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "He's one of the people that come up big for you."

In the extra session, Phillips got ahead of fellow blue-liner Tomas Kaberle in the slot and converted a pass by Dany Heatley from the left faceoff circle, giving Ottawa its 11th win in the last 13 meetings with Toronto.

"I got the puck in the neutral zone. I beat a guy and the ice opened up," Phillips said. "I saw Heater, gave him the puck, kept going and he dished it right back. I tried to shoot it, didn't get much on it. I was fortunate it went in for me."

"I saw it coming across. I was expecting him to shoot harder and he just kind of fanned and it went in," Raycroft said. "It should never have gotten to that point."

Kelly added two assists and Emery made 43 saves for the Senators, who improved to 4-1 against the Maple Leafs this season.

"The goaltender made awful big saves at critical times," Murray said. "Ray was really good. He gave us a chance to come back."

"We were throwing a lot of rubber at him," Devereaux said. "When you get a hot tender like that, it's pretty much all you can do."

Raycroft stopped 31 shots for Toronto, which has dropped five of its last six games.

"We should have won," Raycroft said. "It's just disappointing, giving that lead up, no matter what. We need to find ways to win those games, especially when we give ourselves such a good chance."