Sports

NHL

Pizza for all as Senators rout Hurricanes

Associated Press
Published December 29, 2005

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OTTAWA - Dany Heatley, Bryan Smolinski and Daniel Alfredsson each had a goal and an assist, and Dominik Hasek made 33 saves to lead the Senators to a 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Heatley and Alfredsson scored their team-high 24th goals, and Smolinski, filling in on Ottawa's top line for injured center Jason Spezza, got his seventh as the "Pizza Line" combined for six points.

Patrick Eaves and Antoine Vermette had short-handed goals, and Peter Schaefer also scored for the Senators, who won their third in a row and lead the NHL with 55 points.

Carolina's Erik Cole beat Hasek with 30.4 seconds left in the second period after Ottawa built a 3-0 lead.

Alfredsson beat Martin Gerber 10 seconds into the third to restore the three-goal margin. Schaefer scored Ottawa's fifth goal 22 seconds later to chase the Hurricanes goalie.

Chants of "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" were heard from the team-record crowd of 20,050 shortly after rookie Cam Ward took over for Gerber.

A Senators promotion awards a free slice of pizza to every fan in attendance for a home win in which Ottawa scores at least six goals.

Ottawa has triggered the pizza promotion in three straight games.

"They might be renegotiating that one at the end of the year," Smolinski said.

DEVILS 7, CAPITALS 2: Brian Gionta and Brian Rafalski each scored two goals for host New Jersey, which was 3-for-10 on the power play after going 4-for-100 in the previous 14 games. Alex Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:44 of the first, the Devils scored twice in 13 seconds. Sergei Brylin got the first on a shot from the left circle over Brent Johnson's glove at 12:40. Then Rafalski's power-play goal beat Johnson, who was penalized for delay of game after Brylin's goal, from the point.

JACKETS 1, DUCKS 0: Jason Chimera was credited with a goal that Anaheim's Teemu Selanne slid into his own net late in the third period, giving host Columbus the victory. With heavy traffic right of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the puck squirted into the crease. Selanne tried to freeze the puck under his goaltender, but it trickled across the line with 3:07 left. "Teemu wanted to give it to me so I could freeze it, but I didn't know he was trying to do that," Giguere said. "You can't really blame Teemu."

RANGERS 6, ISLANDERS 2: Jaromir Jagr had a goal and three assists, and the visiting New York Rangers erased an early deficit by scoring the final six goals. Martin Straka scored twice in the final period, and Petr Prucha, Tom Poti and Michael Nylander also had goals for the Rangers. The line of Jagr, Straka and Nylander combined for 12 points - each player netting four points.

FLYERS 4, THRASHERS 3 (OT): Sami Kapanen scored 13 seconds into overtime for Philadelphia, which improved to 3-0 on an 11-game road trip. The Flyers tied it at 3 with less than seven minutes left in the second period when Michal Handzus' pass from behind Atlanta's net set up a goal by Branko Radivojevic.

BLUES 2, BLACKHAWKS 1: Rookie Jason Bacashihua made 21 saves and Eric Brewer and Dallas Drake scored late in the first period for visiting St. Louis. Bacashihua had to make only a handful of tough saves against Chicago, which has scored only 10 goals during a five-game losing streak. Nikolai Khabibulin started in goal for the Blackhawks, but left after two periods because of a pulled groin. It's not clear how long he will be out.

KINGS 5, AVALANCHE 3: Pavol Demitra scored two goals for visiting Los Angeles, 3-0 against Colorado this season. Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj was yanked 11 minutes into the game after surrendering two goals on four shots. David Aebischer replaced him and gave up three goals in 20 shots.

PANTHERS 6, BRUINS 4: Olli Jokinen had two goals and an assist for Florida, which is 4-0-1 in its past five home games. Boston defenseman Brad Stuart had a career-high three assists. The Bruins, who visit the Lightning on Friday, played without scoring leader Sergei Samsonov, who has an inflamed rib cage.

WILD 4, OILERS 4: Randy Robitaille and Marian Gaborik scored on visiting Minnesota's first two shots, and Gaborik added an empty-net goal. Robitaille and Gaborik beat Ty Conklin in a 51-second span midway through the first.

GRETZKY RETURNS: Wayne Gretzky resumed coaching the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday, presiding over a pregame skate in San Jose before a night game against the Sharks. He left his team 10 days earlier to be with his mother, Phyllis Gretzky, who died of lung cancer Dec. 19 in Brantford, Ontario. "It was a hard 10 days for everybody in our family," Gretzky said. "As people know who have lost a family member, it's always difficult. In saying that, first of all, I love the game, and when I wasn't here, I was missing it. I know she would want me to go back to work and be part of this team again."

AVALANCHE: Goaltender Vitaly Kolesnik was sent to the AHL after giving up two goals on two shots during his last outing against Phoenix. Kolesnik, a rookie, made seven starts. He was 3-3-0 with a 3.29 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.

TRADES: Carolina acquired center Krystofer Kolanos, a former first-round draft choice of Phoenix, and traded right wing Pavel Brendl to the Coyotes. Kolanos, 24, has been with San Antonio of the AHL since the Coyotes claimed him off waivers from Edmonton on Dec. 19. Carolina assigned him to Lowell of the AHL. In another move, Carolina sent forward Colin Forbes to Washington for forward Stephen Peat. Phoenix also swapped minor-league centers with Philadelphia, acquiring Eric Chouinard for Kiel McLeod.

[Last modified December 29, 2005, 00:52:13]

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