Senators sink Penguins courtesy of Spezza goal blitz

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-08 11:19

OTTAWA: Jason Spezza's second career hat trick lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL on Saturday.

From behind the Pittsburgh's net, Ottawa Senator Jason Spezza celebrates his hat trick in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Saturday. AP

Spezza beat goalie Dany Sabourin three times in the second period. He has six goals in five games. Dany Heatley added a pair of assists and Alex Auld made 17 saves for Ottawa.

NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Malkin's goal was a short-handed effort, while Staal's came on the power play. Sidney Crosby had an assist to extend his point streak to six games.

Bruins 4, Panthers 0

At Sunrise, Florida, Phil Kessel scored his team-leading 16th goal and Manny Fernandez won his seventh consecutive start as Boston beat Florida.

Kessel has scored in five straight games and has six goals in that span. He also owns the NHL's longest current point streak - an 11-game run.

Fernandez stopped 26 shots in his first shutout of the season. Michael Ryder, Shane Hnidy and Blake Wheeler also scored. David Krejci had three assists for the Bruins, who have won 16 of their last 19 games.

Florida had its three-game winning streak and six-game point streak snapped.

Devils 2, Canadiens 1, OT

At Montreal, Zach Parise scored a power-play goal 31 seconds into overtime to lift New Jersey over Montreal and 4-1 on a a five-game road trip.

Scott Clemmensen, who made 25 saves, became the first New Jersey goalie other than Martin Brodeur _ who had left elbow surgery in early November _ to start against the Canadiens since February 1997.

Montreal fell to 3-1 on its team-record seven-game homestand. Canadiens rookie Matt D'Agostini scored for the third game in a row.

Red Wings 5, Blackhawks 4

At Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk scored in a shootout to complete Detroit's comeback from a two-goal deficit.

Valtteri Filppula had a goal and an assist and Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa also scored for the Red Wings.

Jonathan Toews scored twice, Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist and Patrick Sharp added a goal for Chicago in regulation. Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell each had two assists.

Flyers 2, Hurricanes 1, OT

At Raleigh, North Carolina, Jeff Carter's NHL-leading 19th goal 3:34 into overtime carried Philadelphia past Carolina.

Carter won a faceoff in the Carolina zone against Rod Brind'Amour, pivoted around him, and beat goalie Michael Leighton from the right side.

The Hurricanes outshot the Flyers 36-31, but Antero Niittymaki was solid for Philadelphia, which played overtime for the fourth time in five games.

The Flyers took the lead less than four minutes in on Mike Richards' 11th goal but Sergei Samsonov tied it with 19:05 remaining in regulation.

Thrashers 5, Islanders 1

At Uniondale, New York, Ilya Kovalchuk's second-period goal helped Atlanta snap a five-game losing streak.

Bryan Little, Eric Boulton, Eric Perrin and Chris Thorburn also scored for the Thrashers, who have beaten the Islanders twice this season.

Johan Hedberg stopped 28 shots for his first win since the Thrashers' last victory over Toronto on Nov 25.

Capitals 2, Maple Leafs 1

At Toronto, Milan Jurcina's third-period goal stood up as the winner and Washington beat Toronto.

Karl Alzner also scored for Washington, and Nik Antropov had the only goal for the Maple Leafs.

It might end up being a particularly costly loss for Toronto as Luke Schenn and Niklas Hagman both left the game during the second period with injuries.

Agencies