Big second period lifts Senators past Lightning

OTTAWA -- Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier had an exciting night, but his teammates couldn't translate that into a win.

Zdeno Chara, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher scored second-period goals as the Ottawa Senators beat the Lightning 5-2 on Saturday night.

Radek Bonk and Marian Hossa also scored for Ottawa.

Lecavalier and Brad Richards scored for the Lightning.

Lecavalier, who has four goals and seven assists, was assured by Lightning GM Rick Dudley by telephone before the game that he will remain with the team, ending rampant speculation about his future after his agent, Kent Hughes, requested a trade two weeks ago.

"I just talked to him," Lecavalier said of his brief conversation with the GM, who is scheduled to join the team in Vancouver on Sunday. "It's cool. I'm happy with the Lightning, that's the most important thing. I don't want to go into details, I've got a job to do.

"He just told me he wanted to talk to me out West," Lecavalier continued. "It's not really under my control. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. There was a lot of (distraction) but I was just focused on my game."

Lecavalier, a 21-year-old center from Montreal, also snapped a personal 11-game scoring drought before 15,277 fans at the Corel Centre.

"It wasn't an important goal," he said, after making the score 4-2 at 14:56 of the third period. "But it was good to get one. It will give me confidence."

Chara opened the scoring on a power play 7:57 into the second period, which was only Ottawa's sixth power-play goal of the season.

Ottawa scored two more to take a 3-0 lead after goals by Alfredsson, the Senators' captain, at 13:04 and Fisher with 29.9 seconds left in the second period.

Alfredsson struck from the top of the slot after entering the game sixth in league scoring with 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists). Alfredsson left the game after injuring his hip flexor shortly after scoring. He did not return.

The Senators also lost defenseman Karel Rachunek, who did not return after separating his left shoulder.

Both injuries will be evaluated Sunday.

"It's too early to say," Alfredsson said of the seriousness of the injury, which he also suffered last season. "I got hip-checked right before we scored but I didn't feel it right away."

Richards scored unassisted and Bonk countered on a power play in the final period. Hossa scored into an empty net with 14.7 seconds remaining.

Ottawa outshot Tampa Bay 44-27.

"They're one of the best hockey teams I've seen this year," Lightning head coach John Tortorella said. "They outplayed us probably in every facet of the game. We need to get our offense going."

Ottawa goalie Jani Hurme improved to 7-2-0 and has won all five of his career games against Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay goaltender Kevin Weekes drops to 1-5-0 for the season.

Notes: Tampa Bay's 59 goals-against after 28 games going into Saturday's contest tied the club with the 1968-69 St. Louis Blues for the NHL's fewest goals in that span since the expansion era began in 1967-68. ... Tampa Bay's Matthew Barnaby was ejected at 12:10 after a scrap with Chara. Barnaby was tagged with an instigator minor, fighting major, 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct.