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Spezza, Heatley lead Senators to fourth straight win

Dec 14, 2007 - 5:18 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators used their power play and a few lucky bounces to win its fourth game in a row.

Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza scored power-play goals on rebounds off the goalpost in the third period as Ottawa posted a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Heatley netted two goals for the second consecutive game and Spezza finished with two tallies and two assists for the Senators, who have won all four games during their streak on the road - improving to a league-best 10-2-2 away from home.

"(Goalie Martin Gerber) gets a lot of credit for this win," Spezza said. "We weren't very good in the first period. We didn't seem to have our legs under us, and Marty made some big saves on some good chances early on. And after that, we kind of took over the game."

With the contest tied at 1-1 early in the third period, Ottawa defenseman Christoph Schubert fired a shot from the right point that rang off the left post and bounced off the back of crouched goaltender Dany Sabourin. Spezza was in the right spot and banged in the rebound, giving the Senators a 2-1 lead with 14:17 remaining.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson also picked up an assist on the power-play goal for his 800th career point.

"The power play scored some timely goals when we needed it," said Spezza, whose team was 2-for-3 with the man advantage. "I thought we had good movement on it. The first power play of the game I thought wasn't as good as we liked. We kind of settled down and got some good chances."

Later in the period, Ottawa doubled its lead - again on the power play - when defenseman Joe Corvo's shot from the high slot also hit the left post and trickled along the goal line behind Sabourin. Heatley got his stick on it, pushing it over the line for his 18th tally of the season and giving the Senators a 3-1 lead with 7:41 to play.

The goal was awarded to Heatley, but after the game, Spezza was under the impression he had scored, earning his first career hat trick. The official scoresheet, however, did not change.

"(Heatley) kind of missed it, and I kind of whacked at it," Spezza said. "We both kind of whacked at it."

Spezza added an empty-netter with 49 seconds remaining to cap the scoring for the Senators, who had lost seven straight before their current winning streak. It was the center's eighth goal of the season - four of which have come in the two meetings with Pittsburgh.

Ottawa was outshot, 13-5, in the first period and gave Pittsburgh two power-play chances but seemed to strengthen as the game went on, culminating with the three-goal third period.

"I didn't think we had our legs in the first period, but I don't think we had our brains, either, because we kept turning the puck over at their blue line," Senators coach John Paddock said. "We got a lot better in the third period."

Rookie Tyler Kennedy scored his fifth goal of the season at 14:29 of the second period for the Penguins before Heatley answered less than two minutes later with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle that beat Sabourin.

Captain Sidney Crosby tied a career high with nine shots on goal but was held without a tally for the seventh straight game. The reigning Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner missed two breakaway opportunities and now has just one goal in nine career regular-season games against the Senators.

"You play well and you hope it goes in, and it didn't go in," Crosby said. "But there's nights where you don't play that well and you get one chance and it's a goal.

"To get that many opportunities in one night, it would be nice to find a way to get one."

Gerber stopped 26 shots en route to his 14th win of the season for Ottawa.

"He has such a high skill level, you just try to cut down his options and try to wait him out," Gerber said of Crosby. "I think he was good, but we played hard on the rebounds and tried to take as much time away from him as possible. That makes my job easier."

Filling in for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury, who is out six to eight weeks with an ankle injury, Sabourin made 22 saves for the Penguins.

"You have to give credit to Gerber," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "A goalie stands up for his team and gives them some life, and they capitalize on their chances. That is what happened tonight. They capitalized on their chances with the power play, and that was the story of the game."