Sens score three times in pivotal third period

OTTAWA (AP) -- Martin Havlat gave the Ottawa Senators necessary momentum -- twice.

Havlat scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period, and Brad Smyth and Petr Schastlivy added power-play goals late to lift Ottawa to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Havlat, who opened the scoring just 35 seconds in, broke a 2-2 tie with his seventh goal when he beat goalie Arturs Irbe from the slot 10:09 into the third while the teams skated 4-on-4.

"First chance -- I scored, and that made me feel much better during the whole game,'' Havlat said. "The second one was a rebound goal so it was a little bit lucky, but the important thing is that we won.''

Recalled from the minors earlier in the day, Smyth got his second goal of the season with 3:16 remaining after Carolina's Erik Cole was given a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct at 14:31 for his hit on Senators defenseman Chris Phillips.

"We were a little deflated that he got hit like that but we also realized that maybe this is our opportunity to bury a few and put away the game,'' Smyth said.

Schastlivy added his seventh goal with 1:48 left, seconds after Ottawa enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage.

"Ottawa has got a couple of units that can really snap it around and move the puck really well,'' Irbe said. "I guess they wore us down more than anything because they just kept passing it around until they got tired and that's how they got their goals.''

Phillips, who assisted on Havlat's second goal, scored his third goal on a power play as Ottawa jumped out to a 2-0 lead 6:02 in.

Outshot 10-1 in the early going, Carolina fought back to tie it on power-play goals by Jeff O'Neill and Cole.

O'Neill scored his eighth of the season with 1:01 left in the first to cut the lead to one. Cole got his 11th goal 8:12 into the second to make it 2-2.

The Hurricanes -- who lost two straight to Florida, including a 2-0 decision to the Panthers on Friday -- finished a stretch of six games in nine days that began with a three-game winning streak.

"It was a little bit tough at the beginning but the guys showed a lot of grit to come back like that and after two periods it was 2-2,'' Irbe said. "Unfortunately, a few breakdowns late in the game plus a couple of calls made the difference. We couldn't kill off those penalties and that was the story.''

Ottawa, without captain Daniel Alfredsson for a second straight game, got its first win in three games (1-1-1) after an 8-0-2 streak.

Havlat got the Senators off on the right foot as he drove to the net and backed Irbe deep into the crease before sweeping around him across the goal mouth to score his sixth of the season in the opening minute.

Phillips put the Senators up by two just over six minutes in with his third of the season. Phillips took defensive partner Karel Rachunek's pass from the goal line on the right side of the net and beat Irbe with a long wrist shot through traffic for his second goal in as many games.

Game notes
Irbe made his fifth straight start since Kevin Weekes' concussion. ... Havlat was penalized late in the second when he took Hurricanes D Aaron Ward's stick after losing his own. Havlat shoots left, and Ward is a right-handed shot. ... Smyth had 13 points in 16 games with Binghamton of the AHL. ... Alfredsson, who has 10 goals and 16 assists in 23 games, injured his back when he was checked by Chicago's Ryan VandenBussche in a 1-0 loss to Chicago on Wednesday. He is day-to-day. ... Senators RW Chris Neil didn't return after injuring his left hand during a fight -- one of three in the game -- with Hurricanes RW Jesse Boulerice in the first period.