Lalime makes 32 saves for shutout

OTTAWA (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators intend to carry their strong December into the new year.

Peter Schaefer scored with 5:55 remaining and Patrick Lalime recorded Ottawa's second straight shutout, leading the Senators to a 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Ottawa ended the Islanders' six-game winning streak by extending its own season-high unbeaten run to eight games.

"We're finding ways to win," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "In November, we didn't win those games, but tonight we found a way to win when we had to."

Schaefer scored his ninth of the season 14:05 into the third, beating goalie Garth Snow with a shot from the slot after taking defenseman Karel Rachunek's pass from the right corner.

"It was a tough game," Schaefer said. "Both goalies played great and it was a defensive battle. We were just fortunate enough to get a chance late in the game, and fortunate for it to go in."

Lalime made 32 saves for his 30th career shutout. Senators backup Martin Prusek got his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win in Boston on Tuesday.

"It just shows that we're committed to play well in our own end," said Lalime, whose wife is due to give birth to their second child Friday. "We had a big game. We stayed patient the whole way and we got the big goal with five minutes left."

Snow, 9-4 since taking over the No. 1 job from Rick DiPietro, stopped 22 of 23 shots.

"It was a good game with some up-and-down play, and it's almost like you knew the first goal going into the third period was going to be the difference," Snow said.

The Islanders, who won 6-1 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday for their longest winning streak in 11 years, failed to get a point for just the third time in 14 games (10-3-0-1).

With captain Michael Peca already out of the lineup because of a mild groin strain, the Islanders lost right wing Mark Parrish to a left ankle injury early in the first period.

Peca, injured Wednesday against Pittsburgh, missed his first game of the season.

"We still played hard, which is good," Islanders defenseman Adrian Aucoin said. "That's the kind of game, if you're going to lose, you want to go down fighting, but it's a disappointing loss."

Game notes
The Islanders recalled F Derek Bekar from Bridgeport of the AHL. Bekar made his Islanders debut in place of Peca. Bekar had 14 goals and four assists in 34 games with Bridgeport but hasn't had any points in eight NHL games. ... New York hasn't had a winning streak of seven or more games since winning nine straight from Dec. 31, 1989, to Jan. 19, 1990. ... Alfredsson stopped New York's Jason Blake in his tracks with an open-ice hit that sent both players down about five minutes into the third.