-----------------------------
Ottawa 1 0 0--1
Boston 0 1 1--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Havlat 6 (V Prospal, York), 17:46.
Penalties: Hnidy, Ott (tripping), 2:59; Eloranta, Bos (interference),
15:52; Hossa, Ott (holding stick), 16:57.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Boston, Thornton 8 (power play) (Sweeney,
Eloranta), 13:40. Penalties: Hnidy, Ott (roughing), 3:12; Thornton, Bos
(high sticking, roughing), 3:12; Pahlsson, Bos (slashing), 5:23; Allison,
Bos (roughing), 5:54; Hnidy, Ott (fighting major), 10:51; K Belanger, Bos
(fighting major), 10:51; Bonk, Ott (holding stick), 11:59; York, Ott
(holding), 19:25.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Boston, K Belanger 1 (Thornton), 17:30.
Penalties: Samsonov, Bos (tripping), 8:55; Rachunek, Ott (tripping),
15:17; York, Ott (roughing), 17:00; Kovalenko, Bos (roughing), 17:00;
Knuble, Bos (holding), 17:52.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Ottawa 10 18 5--33
Boston 5 9 9--23
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Ott - 0 of 6, Bos - 1 of 5. Goalies: Ottawa,
Lalime (23 shots, 21 saves; record: 3-1-1). Boston, Raycroft (33, 32;
record: 4-6-0). A:13,522. Referees: B Mccreary, Murphy. Linesmen:
Kovachik, Morin.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Ottawa Boston
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Arvedson 0 0 -1 0 Allison 0 0 even 3
Bonk 0 0 -1 3 Axelsson 0 0 even 2
Dackell 0 0 even 1 Bates 0 0 even 6
Emmons 0 0 even 0 Eloranta 0 1 even 2
Forbes 0 0 even 0 Gill 0 0 -1 0
Havlat 1 0 +1 3 K Belanger 1 0 +1 1
Hnidy 0 0 even 0 Knuble 0 0 even 0
Hossa 0 0 -1 5 Kolarik 0 0 -1 0
Kravchuk 0 0 -1 2 Kovalenko 0 0 even 1
Mceachern 0 0 even 4 Kultanen 0 0 +1 0
Oliver 0 0 even 1 Pahlsson 0 0 -1 0
Rachunek 0 0 even 0 Popovic 0 0 even 1
Redden 0 0 even 4 Rolston 0 0 even 1
Salo 0 0 even 1 Samsonov 0 0 even 2
V Prospal 0 1 +1 2 Sweeney 0 1 +1 0
Yashin 0 0 even 1 Thornton 1 1 +1 3
York 0 1 +1 3 Van Impe 0 0 even 1
Zamuner 0 0 even 3 Ward 0 0 even 0
Phillips Back Injury Dafoe Hamstring
Roy Back Injury Coffey Concussion
Persson Ankle Injury Hulbig Concussion
Alfredsson Hip Injury K Mclaren Knee Injury
Fisher Shoulder Savage Shoulder
Game Story
BOSTON (Ticker) -- Ottawa Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime
picked the wrong time to show the rust of nearly a month's
inactivity.
Lalime's miscue led to enforcer Ken Belanger's go-ahead goal
with 2:30 remaining as the Boston Bruins rallied for a 2-1
victory over the surging Senators.
Lalime was seeing his first action since October 14, when he
suffered a left knee injury while posting a 4-0 blanking of
Toronto. He played well tonight, allowing one goal in the first
58 minutes.
But shortly after a penalty to rookie Karel Rachunek expired,
the Bruins got a gift from Lalime. The puck was dumped behind
the net and, after hesitating, Lalime tried to play it around
the boards.
Instead, Joe Thornton pokechecked the puck away from the goalie
and fired a quick pass to the left faceoff circle, where
Belanger's wrist shot beat Lalime before he could get back in
position.
It was Belanger's first goal since March 16.
"Just the right place at the right time," he said. "I was
coming down the slot when Joe saw me from behind the net and
made a great pass right on my tape. The shot was there for me to
take, and I just snapped it."
"I felt fine out there physically coming back," Lalime said. "I
was trying to clear that puck to the boards and it hit
Thornton's skate. He took it from there to behind the net and
then it happened too qucikly, I didn't have time to react. Those
are the breaks."
Boston right wing Mike Knuble was penalized for holding with
2:08 left. Ottawa pulled Lalime for an extra attacker, but
newly appointed captain Jason Allison blocked the only shot the
Senators sent at rookie goalie Andrew Raycroft.
Raycroft survived a second-period barrage by Ottawa, stopping
all 18 shots, including two during a 5-on-3 power play. He made
32 saves and improved to 4-6-0.
"The guys played great (defense) in front of me all night,"
Raycroft said. "The intensity seemed to pick up out there when
we took the body more in that second period."
The victory came just three days after Boston coach Mike Keenan
held a team meeting during which players discussed their long-
and short-term goals for the season. The Bruins were lambasted
over the weekend, losing to Atlanta and Toronto by a combined
score of 15-4.
Rookie Martin Havlat scored the lone goal for Ottawa, which had
its four-game unbeaten streak snapped and lost for only the
second time this season (9-2-4-0).
Havlat gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with 2:14 left in the first
period. Vaclav Prospal found Havlat at the right circle and the
rookie held off a Bruins defender before putting a shot between
Raycroft's pads for his sixth goal.
Although Boston was dominated in the second period in the shot
category, it was able to tie the game. With Radek Bonk serving
a holding-the-stick penalty, Thornton took the puck to the right
circle and fired a slap shot that found its way through a screen
with 6:20 remaining.
The Bruins could have taken the lead, but Lalime made his best
save on Shawn Bates' point-blank shot at 9:25 of the second.
"Overall, I thought we played a solid hockey game tonight,"
Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "We take a penalty in the
second period, it costs us. And in the third period, just a
simple giveaway led to their other one. They became a more
physical team in that second period."
Boston used its momentum from Raycroft's solid play and
pressured early in the third. Thornton could have given his
team the go-ahead goal, but his blast from the right circle went
off the left goalpost.
Lalime made 21 saves in his first loss of the season (3-1-1).