GDT: Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators - Hockey Day In Canada!-2:00PM ET,RDS, CBC

Senators host Habs in matinee game

Canadian Press
1/13/2007 10:28:20 AM

(Sports Network) - The surging Ottawa Senators look to maintain their strong recent form when the rival Montreal Canadiens invade Scotiabank Place this afternoon for a key Northeast Division showdown.

Ottawa has won three straight and eight of its last 10 games despite missing star center Jason Spezza, who remains sidelined with a knee injury and is not expected to return until after the All-Star break. The Senators had to hang on for their latest win, however, as the club nearly blew a five-goal lead in Thursday's 6-4 triumph over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Patrick Eaves paced Ottawa with two goals while Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley each recorded a goal and two assists on the night. Goaltender Ray Emery stopped all 28 shots he faced over the first two periods, but yielded four New York goals in the third after the Senators had built a 5-0 advantage. Heatley sealed the win, however, with an empty-net tally with 33.7 seconds left.

Emery finished with 38 saves for the game.

Wade Redden finished with a pair of assists and has now recorded a point in five consecutive games, having notched a goal and seven helpers over that span.

Ottawa, which starts up a three-game homestand this afternoon, is just 11-10-1 at Scotiabank Place on the season but has won five of its last seven as the host.

Montreal currently stands fourth in the Eastern Conference playoff standings with 55 points, three more than the Senators and Carolina. The Canadiens are also currently on a winning run, having posted victories over Atlanta and Philadelphia in their two most recent tilts.

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Habs crushed by Senators in Ottawa

Canadian Press
1/13/2007 4:51:42 PM

OTTAWA (CP) - Daniel Alfredsson turned in an explosive performance with a goal and four assists Saturday and the Ottawa Senators went on to record an 8-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Alfredsson led an offensive charge in which 11 different Ottawa players recorded at least a point before a sold-out crowd of 20,038 at Scotiabank Place, which included several thousand Canadiens supporters who endured a long afternoon.

By the time this one was done, one large group of them sported paper bags on their heads in addition to their red, white and blue shirts.

The Senators (26-19-2) scored four times in the first period and eventually chased Canadiens starting goaltender Cristobal Huet from the game as they coasted to their fourth straight victory and fifth win in the past six contests. They halted the Canadiens' win streak at two games.

Chris Kelly had a goal and three assists and Dany Heatley celebrated being added to the Eastern Conference roster for next week's all-star contest at Dallas with a goal and two assists.

Patrick Eaves and Mike Comrie each tallied once and set up another and Wade Redden, Antoine Vermette and Andrej Meszaros rounded out the scoring for Ottawa. Ray Emery stopped 37 shots to earn the victory in goal.

Heatley will be joined at the all-star game by Montreal's Sheldon Souray, who was voted a starter on defence by the fans, and Huet, who was also added Saturday - the only highlight of rough day for him.

Huet lasted less than half of the game, giving up six goals on 25 shots before being replaced by David Aebischer. Aebsicher made seven stops the rest of the way.

Souray had a power-play goal to set a franchise record for power-play markers in a season with 12, eclipsing a mark shared by Guy Lapointe, Matthew Schneider and Patrice Brisebois.

Christopher Higgins and Craig Rivet had the other goals for the Canadiens (25-15-5).

Montreal had a 12-point lead in the standings over Ottawa on Dec. 23. But with a 9-1-1 record in their past 11 contests, the Senators have closed to a point in the hunt for second place in the Northeast Division.

The Canadiens have now lost four of their past six games, six of nine contests, and are 4-7 in that same 11-game span. Montreal completes its three-game road trip Monday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

The afternoon start was the first game of CBC's Hockey Day in Canada tripleheader and it was Montreal which applied the early pressure, forcing Emery to make a series of saves.

However, Redden snapped a shot over Huet's shoulder 4½ minutes in and that changed the momentum. Ottawa went on to fire a season-high 20 shots at the Montreal net in the first and, after Vermette made it 2-0 midway through, Comrie and Alfredsson scored power-play goals little more than two minutes apart to send the Senators to their dressing room with a 4-0 advantage.

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