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Sens aim to build momentum as trip shifts to Carolina

Nov 24, 2013 - 3:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Ottawa Senators aim for a second straight win at the start of a three-game road trip, as they visit the sliding Carolina Hurricanes for Sunday's battle at PNC Arena.

Ottawa had lost three in a row heading into the opener of its current swing on Saturday, but the Senators used a pair of late power-play goals to end the slide and defeat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2.

Clarke MacArthur scored twice for the Senators, giving him three goals over the past three games and six on the season. Bobby Ryan posted a goal and an assist while Chris Neil also scored for the Senators. Robin Lehner made 34 saves in the win.

With the score tied at 2-2 early in the third period, the Senators regained the lead when Ryan scored on a two-man advantage with over 16 minutes remaining. The score stayed 3-2 until MacArthur provided insurance with a power-play marker with 4:02 left in the third.

"When your special teams can win you hockey games, it's a good sign," said Ottawa forward Jason Spezza said. "It shows that we were organized and focused, and those are all things that are good."

Ottawa improved to 5-4-2 on the road and the Sens can post victories in consecutive away games for just the second time this season with another win tonight. The Sens, who will complete this trek Wednesday in Washington, previously won in Phoenix and Detroit from Oct. 15-23.

The Senators had lost four straight in the series with Carolina before notching a 3-2 regulation win in Ottawa on April 16 of last season. However, the Hurricanes have claimed seven of 10 in this series overall and also have recorded wins in two straight and nine of the past 10 encounters in North Carolina.

Craig Anderson is expected to start Sunday's game for Ottawa. The veteran goaltender is 5-2-4 with a 2.58 goals against average in 11 career outings against Carolina.

The Hurricanes enter Sunday on a four-game slide, but they did record their first point of the skid with Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss at Boston. David Krejci notched the game-winner 1:28 into OT for the Bruins.

On the deciding goal, Jarome Iginla split two defenders between the circles and got goaltender Cam Ward to commit before dishing to the slot for Krejci, who waited for Ward to dive back to the net before roofing the disc to send Boston to its seventh win in its last nine games. Ward posted 35 saves in defeat.

Patrick Dwyer tied the game with a short-handed tally at 11:10 of the third, while Andrej Sekera added his fifth of the season for the Hurricanes.

"Patty (Dwyer) made a great play to get the opportunity to skate in there," Carolina head coach Kirk Muller said of Dwyer's short-handed goal. "Obviously a huge goal at the right time."

Carolina has lost five straight games once already this season, suffering through an 0-5-0 stretch from Oct. 24-Nov. 2.

Beginning with Sunday's test, the Hurricanes are playing three of their next four games at home. Carolina is 5-4-4 at PNC Arena this season and 3-6-1 on the road.

With Carolina playing on consecutive days, backup goaltender Justin Peters could give Ward a rest on Sunday. Peters has faced the Sens just once in his career, as he took a loss despite making 31 saves in the 3-2 road setback on April 16 of last season.

Ward is 11-7-1 with a 2.51 GAA in 20 lifetime outings versus the Senators.