• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Senators overwhelm DiPietro's backup in convincing win

Dec 28, 2007 - 4:28 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Even Rick DiPietro may not have stood a chance against the Ottawa Senators' offensive onslaught.

Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Antoine Vermette each tallied during a second-period outburst to help the Senators to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.

"We played a complete game tonight," Alfredsson said. "We had contributions from all four lines and our special teams were effective. I think from the very beginning we controlled the play and we felt strong. It's a good win for us."

Bill Guerin scored a pair of goals for New York, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

"Obviously they're a good hockey club and we knew coming in here that we would have to play our best game," Guerin said. "They came out strong but we stayed with them. And then they came out and scored two quick goals in the second period that put the pressure on us. They're a difficult team to come back on."

The Islanders suffered a huge blow on Wednesday when DiPietro, their top goaltender, suffered a sprained knee. He did not travel with the team, but isn't expected to be out for an extended period of time.

The Senators showed DiPietro's backup Wade Dubielewicz no mercy. Dany Heatley had a pair of assists and Martin Gerber stopped 25 shots for Ottawa, which has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the clubs.

"We were right on top of them from the start," Heatley said. "Their goaltender turned us away early on, and that made it seem closer than it was. We knew if we kept skating and playing our game the way we're capable of playing we'd get the two points."

Dubielewicz, who stopped 22 of 23 shots in relief of DiPietro in a 4-3 win against Toronto on Wednesday, had the unenviable task of slowing down the league's highest scoring team and did not fare well.

"They have so many offensive weapons over there," Dubielewicz said. "I knew I'd probably see a lot of shots come my way tonight and I did. I would've liked to make a few more saves but sometimes there's very little you can do."

Ottawa, which has 130 goals on the season, scored three goals in the second period in every way conceivable: once on the power play, once at even strength and once shorthanded.

"We had all four lines rolling tonight and everyone seemed to have a little extra jump," Alfredsson said. "Some nights it's tough to get everyone on the same page but we had that going tonight for sure."

Spezza extended his point streak to nine games by opening the scoring with a power-play goal just 1:01 into the second. The Senators had a two-man advantage and Heatley fired a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Spezza, who deposited the puck into the left side past a sprawling Dubielewicz.

It was the 300th career point for Spezza.

"Milestones are nice, but the important thing is getting the win," Spezza said. "My dad is here tonight and he reminded me before the game to get the puck for him, so I was happy I could do that."

Just 1:43 later the Senators doubled the lead as they took advantage of a New York line change that left Alfredsson wide open on the right wing. Spezza skated down the left side and fired a pass to Alfredsson, who blasted a wrist shot into the right side.

Vermette then capped the scoring binge with a shorthanded tally with seven seconds left in the period.

New York pulled within 3-1 with 11:47 to play as Guerin scored for a third straight game. He took a pass from Richard Park and fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle which slipped past a screened Gerber.

However, Ottawa answered with goals by Nick Foligno and Mike Fisher. Guerin then cut the lead to 5-2 with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle with 4:21 remaining.

Dubielewicz stopped 32 shots for the Islanders, who have scored a league-low 85 goals.