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Alfredsson, Kelly star as Senators blitz Canadiens

Jan 14, 2007 - 12:03 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Kelly helped make Cristobal Huet look nothing like an All-Star.

Alfredsson had a goal and four assists and Kelly netted one tally and set up three others as the Ottawa Senators rolled to an 8-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Named as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star team earlier Saturday, Huet appeared to be anything but in this one, allowing six goals on 25 shots - including four tallies in the first period - before mercifully being replaced.

"It seemed all the bounces and everything went their way," Huet said. "It was embarrassing. I look at myself and I expect more."

Alfredsson and Kelly played a big part in Ottawa's early onslaught, combining for a goal and four assists in the first 20 minutes as the Senators held a 4-0 lead.

"We played really well right from the start," Alfredsson said. "We made some sacrifices early. ... Although our line got a lot of the points, all the lines were in forechecking and hitting. They were doing a lot of other things that was opening up ice for us."

Alfredsson set up tallies 54 seconds apart early in the middle session to help increase the advantage to six before Montreal broke through with two goals in a 22-second span. But Patrick Eaves and defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who both were selected to participate in the NHL YoungStars Game during the All-Star break, scored 23 seconds apart late in the period to restore the six-goal bulge.

"It looked like nobody showed up," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "If you can't play under pressure right now in January, how are you going to play in (bleeping) April and June? That's the thing that bugs me the most. The guys should know how to play these games. They just didn't show up today."

Dany Heatley - who also was named an All-Star reserve - had a goal and two assists and Ray Emery stopped 37 shots for the Senators, who have won four straight games and nine of 11.

"I definitely expected a tight game," said Emery, who was not selected for the All-Star Game despite some impressive numbers. "It was a big game for us. It's encouraging that we were able to come out that strong."

"I thought it would be a lot tighter game than that," Heatley added. "Montreal is kind of a trapping team and they did a good job against us the first three games of the year. We came out strong tonight and got the first goal and the second goal, which was important for us."

All-Star starter Sheldon Souray set a franchise record for power-play goals by a defenseman with his 12th for Montreal, which suffered its first regulation loss (2-1-1) in four meetings with Ottawa this season.

"For whatever reason, we didn't come out as sharp as we should have," Souray said. "They took advantage of us right off the bat, when we gave them a couple of early goals. From there on, they were all over us the whole game."

Defenseman Wade Redden began the Senators' offensive spurt, beating Huet high to the glove side with a snap shot 4:29 into the game. Antoine Vermette doubled the lead midway through the first with his second goal in as many contests, and Mike Comrie made it 3-0 with four minutes remaining with a power-play tally from the doorstep.

Alfredsson extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with 1:44 left, tapping in the puck at the left goalpost for a 4-0 cushion.

"The first few games against them, we didn't do much at all," Alfredsson said. "In the past, it's been that way. I don't know why, I can't explain it."

Heatley also stretched his goal-scoring run to four contests during a man advantage at 2:37 of the second and Kelly netted his third in four games less than a minute later, firing a slap shot between Huet's pads.

"Huet's as deserving as anyone," Souray said of Huet's All-Star status. "It's good to see him get the recognition he deserves. He's been unbelievable for us and he's the reason we've been able to be where we are in the standings."

David Aebischer replaced Huet and the Canadiens responded as Chris Higgins and defenseman Craig Rivet scored quick goals to reduce the deficit to 6-2. But Eaves tallied for the third straight game with 42 seconds left in the period and Meszaros netted his first goal in 21 games moments later to again give Ottawa a commanding lead.