-----------------------------
Ottawa 0 1 0--1
Edmonton 0 3 1--4
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Brewer, Edm (interference),
3:29; Brewer, Edm (slashing), 7:36; Hnidy, Ott (interference), 12:04;
Havlat, Ott (interference), 14:38.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Edmonton, Laraque 8 (M Comrie, Poti), 1:45.
2, Edmonton, R Smyth 18 (power play) (Carter, Weight), 5:44. 3, Edmonton,
R Smyth 19 (Weight, Carter), 6:36. 4, Ottawa, Mceachern 14 (Yashin),
12:39. Penalties: Havlat, Ott (hooking), 5:21; Fisher, Ott (hooking),
6:56; Havlat, Ott (high sticking), 13:33; Mceachern, Ott (charging),
18:54.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Edmonton, R Smyth 20 (empty net) (Ulanov,
Weight), 17:52. Penalties: Niinimaa, Edm (high sticking), 14:00; Dackell,
Ott (tripping), 15:30.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Ottawa 2 11 6--19
Edmonton 4 10 8--22
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Ott - 0 of 3, Edm - 1 of 7. Goalies: Ottawa,
Lalime (21 shots, 18 saves; record: 18-9-2). Edmonton, Roussel (19, 18;
record: 3-5-2). A:16,362. Referees: Larue, Meier. Linesmen: Cvik, Mitton.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Ottawa Edmonton
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Alfredsson 0 0 -1 3 Brewer 0 0 +1 0
Bonk 0 0 even 0 Brown 0 0 +1 0
Dackell 0 0 -1 0 Carter 0 2 +1 0
Emmons 0 0 -1 1 Cleary 0 0 even 2
Fisher 0 0 even 0 D Lacouture 0 0 +1 0
Forbes 0 0 -1 0 E Moreau 0 0 even 1
Havlat 0 0 even 0 Grier 0 0 even 0
Hnidy 0 0 -1 0 J Smith 0 0 even 0
Hossa 0 0 -1 2 Laraque 1 0 +1 1
Mceachern 1 0 -1 4 M Comrie 0 1 +1 1
Phillips 0 0 -1 1 Murray 0 0 even 0
Rachunek 0 0 even 1 Niinimaa 0 0 even 3
Redden 0 0 even 0 Pittis 0 0 even 0
Rivers 0 0 -1 1 Poti 0 1 +1 3
V Prospal 0 0 even 1 R Smyth 3 0 +1 4
Yashin 0 1 -1 1 Ulanov 0 1 +1 2
York 0 0 -1 1 Weight 0 3 +1 3
Zamuner 0 0 even 3 Zholtok 0 0 even 2
Arvedson Knee Injury Horcoff Healthy
Roy Healthy
Game Story
EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Ryan Smyth recorded his second hat
trick of the season as the Edmonton Oilers returned to their
winning ways and cooled off the Ottawa Senators with a 4-1
victory.
Smyth scored twice in a 52-second span of the second period for
a 3-0 lead and completed his fourth career hat trick with an
empty-netter at 17:52 of the third.
Edmonton's leader with 20 goals, Smyth recorded his last hat
trick on November 14, when he become the first player in NHL
history to score all the goals in a 3-0 win twice.
"Scoring goals is always fun, but first and foremost, this is a
big character win for us after a disappointing loss to
Vancouver," he said.
Doug Weight assisted on all three of Smyth's goals, helping the
Oilers finish a 2-2-0-0 homestand. They had lost their previous
two after beginning the season 13-4-4-0 at Skyreach Centre.
Shawn McEachern scored for the Senators, who had won five
straight games to take the lead in the Eastern Conference. They
are 10-8-3-0 on the road and 0-2-0-0 against the Oilers this
season.
"We have trouble against them," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson
said. "We were up a couple of goals at home and they came back
on us."
Claimed off waivers from Anaheim earlier this week, Dominic
Roussel stopped 18 of 19 shots in place of Oilers starter Tommy
Salo, who had played 12 straight games.
"I thought maybe I would be nervous, but I actually felt pretty
calm in warmups," Roussel said. "The guys came out strong, and
seeing them play so hard in front of me and blocking so many
shots helped me to feel more comfortable."
After a quiet first period that featured only six shots, Oilers
enforcer Georges Laraque opened the scoring 1:45 into the second
with his career high-tying eighth goal.
"We really established the body early and let them know it was
going to be a difficult night for them," Oilers coach Craig
MacTavish said. "When you're struggling offensively, you can
really help yourself by taking care of your own end."
Smyth made it 2-0 on the power play 5:44 into the period,
skating to the left part of the low slot and backhanding a shot
inside the left goalpost while facing the near boards.
Moments later, Smyth beat goaltender Patrick Lalime with another
backhander off a rebound of Weight's deflection in the low slot.
"A couple rebounds tonight that just managed to slip by and we
couldn't answer back," Lalime said. "I think more that the way
Ryan Smyth got to every loose puck was the difference."
Ottawa finally got on the board with 7:21 left in the period,
when McEachern banged home a rebound of Alexei Yashin's shot
from the bottom of the left circle.
Unable to get within a goal, the Senators pulled Lalime with
2:15 to play. Smyth needed just seven seconds to complete the
hat trick.
"The first two were kind of lucky," he said. "I just turned
around and shot it, and the empty-netter was a rolling puck and
I took a little swing at it. Not the prettiest hat trick you'll
ever see, but I'm not complaining."
Smyth, who had four of Edmonton's 22 shots, had a chance at a
fourth goal, but Lalime got a pad on his shot from the right of
the crease in the final minute.
Anson Carter had two assists for the Oilers, who improved to
17-3-3-0 when scoring three or more goals. They had scored at
least four just once in their previous 13 games, going 4-6-2-1.
The Senators scored fewer than three for the first time in seven
games, falling to 5-2-0-0 in that stretch. They outscored
opponents, 25-10, during their winning streak.