Senators drop rare back-to-back games

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators are staggering toward the All-Star break after dominating the NHL for the last 2½ months.

Steve Rucchin scored the go-ahead goal with 5:12 remaining and Paul Kariya had a goal and an assist for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night in a 3-2 victory which gave the Eastern Conference-leading Senators back-to-back losses for the first time since Nov. 8-9.

Adam Oates also scored and Petr Sykora had two assists for the Ducks, who have won six of their last eight. The victory ended Anaheim's seven-game winless streak against Ottawa, which included five straight losses.

"We played a real patient game against a real patient team,'' Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere finished with 25 saves, matching Patrick Lalime, who earlier this month duplicated Giguere's feat of posting three consecutive shutouts.

The loss dropped Ottawa into second place in the overall standings, a point behind Dallas in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

After being held to a season-low 15 shots on net in Monday night's 5-3 loss at Dallas, the NHL's highest-scoring team managed only three in the first period against Anaheim -- despite having two power plays.

"They are one of the elite teams in the league, so it meant a lot to show that we can play with them,'' Rucchin said.

Mike Fisher and Todd White scored for the Senators, who responded from their previous set of back-to-back losses with a 10-game unbeaten streak that triggered a 25-5-4 surge.

Rucchin scored his 15th goal, tipping in Niclas Havelid's long slap shot from between the circles while defenseman Chris Phillips tried to cover him in front of the crease.

"We played hard tonight. Basically we just made a couple of mistakes,'' Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said.

The goal came 11 seconds after Ottawa finished killing a four-minute penalty against former Ducks center Shaun Van Allen for cutting Keith Carney with a high stick.

White's 17th goal tied the score 2-2 with 14:05 remaining. He got a centering pass from Daniel Alfredsson and scored from 15 feet out.

Kariya opened the scoring at 4:15 of the second with his 19th goal and fourth in five games, following a career-worst 12-game drought. The seven-time All-Star got a lead pass at his own blue line from Sykora, carried the puck into the Ottawa zone and sidestepped defenseman Zdeno Chara before putting a 25-foot wrist shot over Lalime's glove.

Fisher tied it 12 minutes into the second period with his 12th goal. But Oates, who failed to get a point against Ottawa in the Senators' five-game first-round playoff series against Philadelphia last April, gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead two minutes later. He tipped in Ruslan Salei's wrist shot from outside the left circle for his third goal in 35 games with the Ducks.

"We had a couple of leads on them and they tied it, but we didn't panic. That's a really good sign,'' Oates said.

Ottawa left wing Peter Schastlivy left the game at 15:37 of the period with an injured right leg after getting slashed by Matt Cullen on his second shift.

Game notes
Lalime is 5-1 lifetime against the Ducks, who traded him to Ottawa in June 1999 for Ted Donato and the rights to Antti-Jussi Niemi. Niemi is playing back in his native Sweden and Donato is with the New York Rangers -- his eighth NHL team in five seasons. ... Lalime spent less than 15 months in the Ducks' organization without ever playing a game for the big club. ... The Ducks welcomed C Andy McDonald and LW Mike Leclerc back to the lineup. McDonald missed seven games with a concussion after Colorado's Adam Foote ran into him on Jan. 9. Leclerc was out 10 games with inflammation in his right knee. ... Anaheim RW Dan Bylsma sat out his fourth game because of a bruised left knee after blocking a shot in a victory over Minnesota. ... Ottawa D Curtis Leschyshyn sat out his fourth game because of a groin injury that will keep him out until after the All-Star break.