Hurme gets shutout as Senators edge Devils

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils popularized the defensive trap when they won the 1995 Stanley Cup.

What the Devils mastered, the Ottawa Senators perfected.

The Senators used the trap effectively Saturday and stifled the Devils in the third period in a 1-0 victory. Ottawa held New Jersey to four largely harmless shots during the final 20 minutes.

"We really shut them down," said Mike Fisher, who scored the goal midway through the second period. "We tried to be smart with the puck at the blueline. We were making smart plays and didn't give them much."

Jani Hurme stopped 23 shots for his fourth career shutout as the Senators beat the Devils for the first time this season.

"The guys played well in front of me and let them have only a couple of scoring chances," Hurme said.

The Devils, who had beaten the Senators three times, saw their three-game unbeaten streak (1-0-2) end.

Ottawa outshot New Jersey 9-5 in the scoreless, tight-checking first period that featured few quality chances.

The tempo quickened in the second period and resulted in the goal by Fisher at 10:00. The score came just as a high-sticking penalty to Brian Rafalski expired.

Wade Redden lifted a high floating shot from the left point that Fisher deflected past Martin Brodeur. It was Ottawa's first goal in 119:30 against Brodeur and New Jersey.

The Devils had several good scoring chances in the period but were denied when Turner Stevenson and Petr Sykora hit posts behind Hurme.

The Devils, while shut down by the Senators, have been struggling to score. They are 5-3-3 in their last 11 games, scoring only 23 goals in that span. New Jersey has only 79 goals to rank 26th in the NHL

Devils coach Larry Robinson, frustrated by the lack of production, has ordered the team to do pushups.

"We're either going to have guys hitting the net or we're going to be the strongest team in the league," he said.

The players are starting to feel the frustration.

"We keep saying they're going to come but they don't come," Devils winger Randy McKay said. "We're getting near the halfway point. We've got to get our team playing better and start putting the puck in the net."

Notes: Hurme played for the first time against the Devils. . . . Patrick Lalime started and lost the first three matchups with New Jersey this season. . . . Jason Arnott missed a second straight game with an undisclosed ailment that Devils spokesman Jeff Altstadter would characterize only as an "illness." . . . The game was a relatively tame one for the Senators following their fight-filled contest with Los Angeles on Thursday. That game produced 252 penalty minutes and resulted in the ejection of both goaltenders. This game resulted in only 30 minutes with a lone fight between Fisher and the Devils' John Madden late in the second period.