-------------------------------
Carolina 2 0 0 1--3
Ottawa 1 1 0 0--2
-------------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Carolina, Oneill 36 (Brindamour, Malik),
2:46. 2, Ottawa, Mceachern 32 (power play) (Alfredsson, Redden), 11:01. 3,
Carolina, Oneill 37 (Gelinas, Hatcher), 16:59. Penalties: York, Ott
(interference), 6:57; Battaglia, Car (interference), 10:40; York, Ott
(holding), 11:47; Karpa, Car (roughing), 16:04; Zamuner, Ott (roughing),
16:04.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Ottawa, Yashin 38 (Leschyshyn, Alfredsson),
3:25. Penalties: Hatcher, Car (cross checking), 14:26; G Wesley, Car (high
sticking), 15:08.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None.
OVERTIME -- Scoring: 5, Carolina, Willis 20 (Kapanen), 1:18.
Shots on goal:
------------------------------------
Carolina 16 4 14 1--35
Ottawa 9 9 4 2--24
------------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Car - 0 of 2, Ott - 1 of 3. Goalies: Carolina,
Irbe (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 35-28-8). Ottawa, Lalime (35, 32;
record: 34-19-5). A:18,500. Referees: B Mccreary, S Walkom. Linesmen: D
Mccourt, Scapinello.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Carolina Ottawa
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Adams 0 0 even 0 Alfredsson 0 2 -2 2
Battaglia 0 0 even 5 Arvedson 0 0 even 0
Brindamour 0 1 even 2 Dackell 0 0 even 0
Francis 0 0 even 4 Fisher 0 0 -1 3
G Wesley 0 0 -1 0 Havlat 0 0 even 1
Gelinas 0 1 +1 2 Hossa 0 0 -2 6
Hatcher 0 1 +3 0 Lacroix 0 0 even 0
J Daniels 0 0 even 0 Leschyshyn 0 1 even 1
Kapanen 0 1 +1 2 Mceachern 1 0 +1 4
Karpa 0 0 even 1 Phillips 0 0 -1 0
Malik 0 1 +1 1 Rachunek 0 0 -1 0
Oneill 2 0 +1 5 Redden 0 1 -1 1
Ozolinsh 0 0 +2 5 Salo 0 0 even 3
S Pellerin 0 0 even 3 Sillinger 0 0 even 0
T Westlund 0 0 even 2 White 0 0 even 0
Tanabe 0 0 -1 1 Yashin 1 0 +1 2
Wallin 0 0 even 0 York 0 0 -1 1
Willis 1 0 +1 2 Zamuner 0 0 -1 0
Halko Healthy Rivers Healthy
Dimaio Sternum Injury Roy Hamstring
Langdon Healthy Persson Healthy
Vasicek Healthy Hnidy Healthy
Game Story
OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Carolina Hurricanes weren't satisfied
with one point.
Rookie Shane Willis scored 78 seconds into overtime as the
Hurricanes posted a crucial 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators
to move back into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Willis got his 20th goal on Carolina's only shot of the extra
session. It was the second straight overtime win for the
Hurricanes, who defeated Washington, 4-3, on Friday.
"We needed the two points more than they did, but we just went
into OT relaxed," Willis said. "If you look back, we've done
pretty well against Ottawa. I think if this is a first-round
playoff preview, it would be good for our team."
Carolina won three of four meetings with the Senators this
season.
Sami Kapanen set up the game-winner with an end-to-end rush. As
he tried to split the defense, Kapanen had the puck knocked away
by Ottawa defenseman Sami Salo. But it deflected to Willis, who
ripped a slap shot from the slot past goaltender Patrick
Lalime's glove side.
"We were really trying to go high on him," Willis said. "He's a
butterfly goalie and all three of our goals were up there."
Jeff O'Neill scored twice in the first period for the
Hurricanes, who benefited from five Ottawa shots that hit
goalposts. He beat Lalime with a pair of slap shots.
"I could care less about our record against each other," O'Neill
said when asked about his team's success against the Senators.
"We just need every win right now."
Shawn McEachern tallied on the power play in the first period
for the Senators before Alexei Yashin tied it 3:25 into the
second with his 38th.
Carolina dominated the third period, outshooting Ottawa, 14-4.
The Hurricanes have 83 points, one more than idle Boston, with
four games remaining.
"Destiny is in our hands right now," said Carolina goalie Arturs
Irbe, who made 22 saves. "We will decide if we will advance or
not. It doesn't get any bigger than that. These are two
well-deserved points."
"We were really ready for this one," Hurricanes coach Paul
Maurice added. "We came out hard in the first, then weathered a
couple storms in the second and third. I think we played well
and deserved the win."
The defeat ended Ottawa's six-game unbeaten streak, but the
Senators picked up one point for the overtime loss and moved two
ahead of New Jersey in the battle for the top seed in the East.
"We now have 105 points, tops in the conference, so most of the
season we've been pretty happy, but we don't like to let points
slip away," said McEachern, who scored his career-high 32nd
goal. "We had many chances to win tonight."
"We didn't play our best," added Lalime, who stopped 32 shots.
"We got our chances, but we didn't convert on them. All three
(goals) were pretty nice shots. They all went off posts."
With the contest tied, 1-1, Lalime blocked a shot by Martin
Gelinas, but the puck deflected to O'Neill, who skated into the
high slot and beat Lalime high to the glove side with 3:01 left
in the opening period.
The Senators tied it early in the second following a spectacular
play by Daniel Alfredsson. He carried down the right wing
before cutting past defenseman Glen Wesley at the blue line. He
feathered a cross-ice pass to Curtis Leschyshyn, whose shot was
redirected by Yashin.
The Senators played the third period with five defensemen after
Chris Phillips bruised his left shoulder late in the second.
"They really wanted this," Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden said.
"They were buzzing out there all game. We just got to step it
up."