Burke's 39 saves keep Philly on top

OTTAWA (AP) -- Mark Recchi and the Philadelphia Flyers will be paying close attention to whether or not Ottawa's Martin Havlat earned himself a suspension.

Havlat was given a match penalty in the third period of Ottawa's 1-1 tie with Philadelphia on Thursday night for swinging his stick and attempting to injure Recchi.

"He's a reckless player and someday someone is going to make him eat his lunch," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's going to get it someday, and it's going to be harsh."

Havlat was ejected for taking a two-handed swing at Recchi's head in frustration at the Philadelphia forward's dogged stick-checking.

"He's known for it," said Recchi, who had several stitches on his upper left lip. "It might not come from our team, it might come from some other team, but he will because he's cheap and he does stupid stuff like that. He'd better learn to protect himself."

Havlat, who drew his 30th assist on Marian Hossa's power-play goal in the first, drew a two-game suspension for kicking New York Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns earlier this season.

"I was frustrated from all the hooking before that," Havlat said. "I wanted to hit him, but I didn't want to hit his face. I don't know where I hit him, I didn't see a replay. It was a bad decision at that time."

Philadelphia, unbeaten in three games following a three-game losing streak, earning its 83rd point to remain one ahead of Ottawa for the Eastern Conference lead.

The Senators play a home-and-home series against Buffalo before a rematch with the Flyers March 5 in Philadelphia.

Flyers goalie Sean Burke made 39 saves, six in overtime alone when he stopped Peter Bondra on a breakaway.

"He's a goalie that can steal games for you, and he stole us the point tonight, which is great," Hitchcock said.

Hossa scored his 27th goal on the Senators' second of three power plays before the midway mark of the opening period. Simon Gagne had a power-play goal for Philadelphia.

The Flyers were outshot 40-18, managing just five shots against Patrick Lalime in each of the first two periods, when Ottawa enjoyed a 25-10 advantage.

"We know we could have been better but any time that you come into Ottawa and get a 1-1 tie at the start of a big road trip, it's important," Recchi said. "We'll thank Burke for this one, take the point and move forward."

The Flyers failed to score on the ensuing five-minute power play following Havlat's ejection.

"It was a big kill for us," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said.

The Senators, who lost in regulation Tuesday for the first time in 10 games, earned a point for the 10th time in 11 games.

Flyers newcomer Alexei Zhamnov assisted on Gagne's goal after scoring in his Philadelphia debut Tuesday.

Ottawa had the potential go-ahead goal disallowed late in the second period when Antoine Vermette was called for goaltender interference. The sellout Corel Centre crowd erupted in a short-lived cheer when Bryan Smolinski scored at 18:34. Referee Kevin Pollock immediately waved off the goal, ruling Vermette crashed into Burke, leaving Smolinski with a wide open right side of the net.

Hossa opened the scoring when his flubbed shot from the side of the net went under Burke's glove, off the tip of his left pad and into the net.

Gagne got his 18th to tie it when he redirected Tony Amonte's hard centering pass beyond Lalime from the edge of the crease.

Game notes
Flyers G Robert Esche dressed as Burke's backup after missing 10 games. Esche, sidelined since suffering a knee injury on Feb. 2, was fourth in the league with a 1.91 goals-against average through Wednesday. ... Ottawa hasn't lost a home game in regulation since Dec. 13, going 14-0-3-2 at the Corel Centre since a 3-2 loss to Boston. ... Havlat, who stick-handled his way to two improbable scoring chances in the first period, has nine goals and seven assists in his last 11 games.