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Talbot's late goal carries Penguins past Senators

Apr 6, 2007 - 6:38 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Maxime Talbot did not let the playoff-like atmosphere rattle him.

Talbot scored the game-winning goal with nine seconds left in the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins posted a thrilling 3-2 triumph over the Ottawa Senators.

With Thursday's win, Pittsburgh (46-24-11) pulled into a tie with Ottawa (47-25-9) at 103 points each for fourth place and home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference.

"It's not just who's playing against who," said Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who had an assist. "Teams are trying to get a lot out of each other and expect a lot of themselves and trying for the playoffs. No matter who they're playing against, they want to make sure that they're playing their best and when they do end up playing that first game."

Both teams have one game remaining to decide who will have home-ice advantage in the opening round. The Penguins close out the season against the New York Rangers on Saturday, while the Senators travel to Boston.

"It's not done. There's still a game left to go," Talbot said. "On both ices, it's going to be a big battle because they have a great team. They're skilled, they work hard, but we definitely play good at home. If we get that ice, it would be a plus for us."

During a 4-on-4 situation late in the contest, Talbot blasted a shot past Ottawa's goaltender Ray Emery into the top of the net to seal a win of the season series at 3-1-0.

"That's not why I was on the ice," Talbot said. "I'm not there to score goals. Maybe to prevent one, but if we had a chance, then yes. So that's what happened. Colby (Armstrong) made the right play to get a good point and I got the puck and that's it."

In the opening period, Michel Ouellet and Gary Roberts scored a power-play goal apiece as Pittsburgh created a 2-1 bulge. It was both Ouellet and Roberts' 19th tallies on the season.

Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 35 saves for Pittsburgh, which will finished in second place in the Atlantic Division behind New Jersey.

Emery stopped 24 shots and Dany Heatley scored his 49th goal in the second for the Senators, who lost defenseman Tom Preissing with a left groin injury.

"It was an exciting game. We had more adrenaline than we normally do for a regular season game," Emery said. "We've learned a couple of tough lessons on how to deal with that adrenaline and use it in good ways. I don't like that team very much right now."

With one more tally, Heatley will become the first NHL player to score at least 50 goals in back-to-back seasons since Florida's Pavel Bure accomplished the feat between 1999-2000 and 2000-01.