Carolina last beat Ottawa in April 2001

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators got off to a quick start Tuesday night, and the Carolina Hurricanes never recovered.

Marian Hossa and Daniel Alfredsson scored in the first period to lift the Senators past the Hurricanes 3-1. Hossa added two assists for the Senators, who pushed their unbeaten streak against Carolina to 11 games.

The Senators took control early, scoring two first-period goals while allowing just four shots and committing no penalties. Ottawa, the NHL's second-best power-play team, also capitalized on its first opportunity with the man advantage late in the period.

Shaun Van Allen added an empty-net goal for the Senators, who have won 12 of 18 overall.

"I like the way we played," Senators coach Jacques Martin said. "I thought we played real strong, and that's what we need."

Jeff O'Neill scored on a five-on-three power play in the second period for Carolina, which has lost four of six.

Carolina has not beaten Ottawa since a 3-2 overtime win in April 2001.

The Hurricanes, who acquired right wing Justin Williams from Philadelphia for defenseman Danny Markov earlier Tuesday, showed little sign of life offensively. Carolina, which came in with a league-low 86 goals, didn't record a shot for nearly six minutes to start the game.

Ottawa outshot Carolina 30-14. The 14 shots were a season-low for Carolina, which averaged 29.4 coming in.

It marked the third time in four games that the Hurricanes got off to a slow start. Carolina fell behind 5-1 in the opening period of a loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday. The next night, they trailed 3-1 after the first period before rallying to beat Atlanta 4-3.

Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said there was no excuse for the way his team had started games recently.

"We're harmless. We're a harmless team," he said. "We don't want to hurt anybody, we don't want to take possession of the game, or bang bodies or crash the net. It's frustrating just trying to figure it out."

Hossa got the Senators on the board, grabbing the puck off a faceoff and charging up ice to beat Jamie Storr 12:12 in.

The Senators increased the lead with a power-play goal less than 2½ minutes later. After Sean Hill was whistled for interference, Alfredsson one-timed a pass from Hossa and beat Storr from the blue line 17 seconds into the man advantage.

"I think the first period was really the key," Hossa said. "We didn't stop pressuring them. ... Tonight we protected the lead, so that's huge for us."

O'Neill scored his ninth goal during a two-man advantage at 11:17 of the second, but Carolina got no closer.

"It's pretty much the same scenario it's been all year," O'Neill said. "If you can't put more than one goal in the net, you're not going to end up with anything, especially against that team."

Game notes
Ottawa entered with an NHL-best 3.24 goals per game while ranking tied for second with 2.06 goals allowed. ... Alfredsson pushed his point streak to three games. ... The Senators are 12-1-1 against Southeast Division teams. ... Carolina's previous low shot total was 17, set in a win against Los Angeles and a loss to Dallas. ... Williams finished with one shot on goal in his Carolina debut. ... Hill had a four-game point streak snapped. ... O'Neill took sole possession of fifth place on the franchise's goal-scoring list (193).