Heatley reaches 30-goal mark in Senators' win vs. Hurricanes

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Game Information

Arena: Scotiabank Place Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Referees: Bill McCreary, Dean Morton Linesmen: Tim Nowak, Anthony Sericolo

Attendance: 16,541 (89.4% full)

Team Stat Comparison
236	Goals	213
221	Goals Against	231
70	Power Play Goals	66
59	Power Play Goals Allowed	64
8	Shorthanded Goals	8
9	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	5
802	Penalty Minutes	1098
10	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			CAR	OTT
14:03		Dany Heatley Assists: Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher	0	1
14:20		Patrick Eaves Assists: Rod Brind'Amour, Michael Ryan	1	1
14:49		Chris Kelly Assists: Antoine Vermette	1	2
19:49		Mike Comrie Assists: Antoine Vermette, Brian Lee	1	3
2ND PERIOD			CAR	OTT
1:58		Jason Spezza (Power Play) Assists: Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Campoli	1	4
18:11		Anton Babchuk (Power Play) Assists: Joni Pitkanen, Jussi Jokinen	2	4
3RD PERIOD			CAR	OTT
No scoring this period			2	4

OTTAWA -- Carolina coach Paul Maurice wasn't all that impressed with either team after his Hurricanes had their three-game winning streak snapped by Ottawa.

Fast Facts

• The Senators improved to 6-3-2 since Cory Clouston replaced Craig Hartsburg as coach on Feb. 2.

• The Hurricanes are 3-of-27 on the power play in their last five games.

• Carolina has scored two or fewer goals in 31 of its last 50 games.

-- ESPN research

Dany Heatley scored his 30th goal of the season Tuesday night and the Senators chased Carolina goalie Cam Ward out of the nets after one period in a 4-2 victory.

Carolina outshot Ottawa 43-22, but Ward allowed three goals in nine shots in the first period.

"We outshot them by a ton, we gave up four goals on 11 shots. I didn't think they were that good. I didn't think we were that good," Maurice said.

"I'm not looking at Cam Ward and saying, 'Hey, that's your fault,' but he didn't stop enough, we didn't score enough and that's the game," Maurice said.

For Heatley, it's the fifth time in his seven NHL seasons that he's reached the 30-goal mark and fourth year in a row.

Heatley and Chris Kelly scored goals 46 seconds apart in the first period for Ottawa. The Senators had lost three straight, falling behind early in each game.

"We talked about it a lot the last couple of days," Heatley said. "We came out, scored some goals and took the momentum right away."

Mike Comrie, acquired from the New York Islanders along with defenseman Chris Campoli in a trade last Friday, also scored as the Senators struck three times in the opening 20 minutes.

Patrick Eaves and Anton Babchuk scored for Carolina, which had its three-game win streak stopped. The Hurricanes remain in ninth in the East, one point behind the Sabres and Panthers.

"It would have been a good night for us to get some points on all those teams that we're chasing," Eaves said. "We got a lot of shots but didn't score on our opportunities."

Jason Spezza also scored for the Senators, who halted a three-game winless slide.

Daniel Alfredsson and Antoine Vermette each chipped in with a pair of assists and Alex Auld recorded 41 saves.

Ward, making his ninth straight start for Carolina, was replaced by Michael Leighton, who made 12 saves the rest of the way.

With Comrie, in his second stint in Ottawa, and Campoli making their first appearance at home, the Senators came close on a couple chances early before Heatley gave them the lead just past the 14-minute mark when he converted a two-on-one opportunity with Alfredsson.

That touched off a flurry of goals over the next 46 seconds.

Before Heatley's goal could even be announced, Eaves tied the score when he fired a shot from a bad angle that struck Auld in the side of the pad and bounced in for the former Senators' third goal of the season.

But 29 seconds after that, Vermette forced a turnover as Carolina tried to break out of its own zone. He found Kelly alone in front of the net, who scored his seventh goal of the season.

"That showed a lot of resilience on our part," Auld said.

With 10.1 seconds left in the first, Comrie recorded his eighth goal and first back in an Ottawa uniform when he faked a slap shot and slipped the puck through Ward's pads.

"It was nice to see that one go in because you want to fit in right away, especially in a win," Comrie said.

Ward was replaced by Leighton to start the second and Spezza welcomed him by slipping a bad-angle shot past him on the power play to make it 4-1 less than two minutes into the period.

Babchuk cut the lead to 4-2 with the Hurricanes on a power play late in the period.

"We had a lot of shots," Eaves said. "Those crazy 40 seconds [in the first]. It would have been nice to not let them score back on us."

Game notes
With Senators general manager Bryan Murray stating Monday he has too many bodies available, defensemen Brendan Bell, Christoph Schubert and Alexandre Picard were all healthy scratches. ... Carolina returns home to play host to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday in another important Eastern Conference game with playoff implications.