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Senators seek fourth straight win

Dec 29, 2007 - 1:39 PM Washington (14-19-5) at Ottawa (25-8-4) 7:30 pm EST

OTTAWA (Ticker) - The Ottawa Senators look to keep rolling when they host the Washington Capitals at the Scotiabank Place on Saturday.

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

An offensive outburst is nothing new for Ottawa, which leads the Eastern Conference with 130 goals.

Dany Heatley has led the way for the Senators, tallying 23 goals and 25 assists. The 26-year-old has five points over his last two games.

The Capitals may have the fewest wins in the conference, but they have seemed like a different team since Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench. The club has gone 8-6-3 under their new coach since Glen Hanlon was fired on November 22.

Alex Ovechkin has seemingly been the player to benefit the most from Boudreau's arrival. The 22-year-old Russian superstar leads the team with 26 goals - including 12 since Hanlon's termination.

Twenty-year-old rookie Nicklas Backstrom also has come around lately. After picking up just one goal and eight assist during 20 games under Hanlon, Backstrom has scored five goals and 18 points in the last 17 games.