Havlat scores twice in Senators' win over Isles

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Martin Havlat helped end two skids with his two goals -- his own scoring drought and Ottawa's losing streak.

Havlat scored twice in the final period to break open a tight game as the Senators beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Wednesday night.

There wasn't a happier Senator in the locker room after the game than Havlat.

"I know I haven't scored, and I know it was 20 games," said Havlat, who last scored on Jan. 22 at Philadelphia. "I just couldn't put it in in the games before. I was happy to do it tonight, and I was happy to do it in a win."

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Senators, who now trail Toronto by two points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs, who have a game in hand, play host to the Islanders on Thursday.

The Senators, who have lost just once in 26 meetings to New York (19-1-6), took a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game when Marian Hossa stripped Shawn Bates of the puck at the Islanders' blue line, moved to the left wing, waited for goalie Garth Snow to commit, and flipped a shot into the open net.

"(It was) no excuse, but I was a bit rusty," Snow said of his first start since March 1 and first at home since Jan. 24.

The Islanders managed to tie the game when Mariusz Czerkawski tipped in Alexei Yashin's one-timer while on a power play at 4:55.

Ottawa took the lead for good at 4:20 of the second period when Benoit Brunet got an errant clearing attempt by Snow and put the puck past him.

Havlat iced the game with his 21st goal 82 seconds into the final period when he broke in alone on Snow off a perfect pass from Radek Bonk. He moved straight up and sent a quick shot between Snow's pads.

"I just tried to shoot it on net," Havlat said. "When you don't score for so long, you don't want to try to do anything fancy."

Havlat added a power-play goal at 12:38 when he stole the puck from defenseman Kenny Jonsson behind the net, moved out to Snow's right and beat him between the pads again with a backhand.

"We took control and played like we wanted to play," said Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime, who stopped 27 shots. "Everybody was doing his job. We stuck together and paid a price to win."

The Islanders couldn't end the game quickly enough to suit coach Peter Laviolette.

"From the time the puck dropped, as a group, we weren't ready to play," Laviolette said. "It wouldn't matter who we were playing or who we were chasing. This has to be disturbing for everyone."

Notes: Islanders tough guy Steve Webb sustained a mild concussion after taking the worst of a mid-ice collision with defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn during the second period. Webb is listed as day-to-day. . . . Former Islander defenseman Zdeno Chara, part of the Alexei Yashin trade, missed his third straight game for the Senators with the flu. . . . Two teams the Islanders have a hard time beating are Washington and Ottawa. The Islanders have beaten Ottawa once in their past 26 meetings (1-19-6). Ottawa is 10-0-3 in its past 13 visits to the Coliseum since a 5-4 loss on Jan. 6, 1996. . . . The Islanders are 0-11-1 in their past 12 games following a game against the Rangers. . . . The Islanders have never been higher than 10 games over .500 this season. They've now had nine cracks to go 11 games above, and wound up 0-6-3 in those games. The last time the Islanders were 11 games over .500 was Apr. 5, 1986. . . . The Islanders' last winning season was 1992-93, the year they reached the semifinals. One more win will clinch a plus-.500 season.