Newcomers light up scoreboard

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Newcomers Ville Nieminen and Marcus Nilson have wasted little time endearing themselves to their hometown fans.

Nilson scored twice, including an empty-net goal, and Nieminen snapped a tie as the Calgary Flames beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 Thursday night.

The two were acquired by coach and general manager Darryl Sutter in separate trades over the past three weeks. Nieminen came from Chicago on Feb. 24 and Nilson arrived from Florida on Monday.

Nieminen's unassisted goal at 9:16 of the third period came after Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips had the puck skip past him at the Ottawa blue line.

Nieminen picked up the puck at center ice and sped in alone. He cut from the right side across the front of the net and put a high shot over sprawling goalie Patrick Lalime.

"He's a player you love to have on your team," Flames assistant coach Rich Preston said of Nieminen. "He gets involved every shift whether it's getting under the opponent's skin, or making a good play along the boards, or hitting somebody. Tonight, he scored a great goal."

Before scoring in his last game, Nieminen went 32 games without a goal.

"Two weeks ago when I got traded, I felt like I had been called up so it's my job to bring some excitement," Nieminen said.

Krzysztof Oliwa also scored for the Flames, who moved back into sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference. Calgary is three points behind Dallas and two points up on Los Angeles and Nashville.

"We've come a long way right now and we're so close, we've just got to keep going to the very end," Oliwa said.

Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat scored for Ottawa, one point behind Boston for the Northeast Division lead.

"They played hard, they forechecked hard, they did all the things we expected them to do, so you have to give them credit," Senators defenseman Wade Redden said. "They were real hungry and we can probably tear a page out of their book and maybe do the same. This is the time of year where you have to pick it up."

The Senators tied it 2-2 at 4:30 of the third when Hossa stripped the puck from Denis Gauthier at the Ottawa blue line and beat Miikka Kiprusoff on a breakaway.

The exciting game was played before Calgary's fifth straight capacity crowd and 15th this season.

Oliwa brought the fans to their feet by neatly finishing off a three-on-two rush that put Calgary ahead 2-1 at 14:56. His third goal this season came less than a minute after Calgary failed to get a shot on goal during a four minute man-advantage.

It was Oliwa's second goal in three games after he scored just one in the first 56.

"We were wanting this win as we're in a battle for first place, but tonight, they got that big goal from Oliwa and that was what put us behind the eight-ball," Hossa said.

Radek Bonk returned from four weeks on the sidelines with a foot injury and helped set up Hossa's power-play goal 1:55 into the second that tied it 1-1.

Calgary took the lead at 6:24 on Nilson's first goal with the Flames.

Game notes
Calgary C Dean McAmmond, who hasn't scored in 14 games, sat out due to a sore back. ... Ottawa D Greg de Vries was partnered with Wade Redden in his debut for the Senators. He was acquired Tuesday from the New York Rangers. ... Ottawa C Jason Spezza has gone 13 games without scoring and remains stuck at 19 goals for the season. ... Calgary LW Martin Gelinas (neck) is back practicing with the team and is expected to return this weekend. He has missed three games.