OTTAWA — Jason Spezza scored his
ninth goal in his last eight games and the Ottawa Senators extended
their team-record winning streak to 11 with a 3-1 victory over the
Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Brian Elliott made 29 saves to break
his own team record with his ninth straight win. He lost a shutout bid
when Kyle Wellwood scored a power-play goal with 1:39 left.
Milan Michalek had a goal and an
assist, and Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson had two assists a night
after scoring twice in the final minute to lead the Senators to a 4-2
victory in Buffalo.
Spezza, who scored twice against the
Sabres, has scored in every game since he returned from a knee injury,
extending his goals streak to six games. He also scored in each of his
two games prior to his injury, though that is not considered part of
his streak. Chris Kelly scored into an empty net with 40.5 seconds
remaining.
Vancouver, playing the third game of
its NHL-record 14-game road trip, lost its second in a row
following a seven-game winning streak.
Andrew Raycroft, who recorded his
100th career loss, made 18 saves in his first start in two months.
Raycroft had made two relief appearances — including his 99th career
win in the Canucks' 5-3 come-from-behind win in Toronto on Saturday
night — since allowing four goals in a 5-3 loss at Carolina on Dec. 5.
The Canucks fell to 1-2 on the
eight-game first leg of their record road trip while GM Place is being
prepared for the Winter Olympics. Vancouver, which plays six straight
on the road following the Games, does not play at home again until they
host the Senators on Mar. 13.
Michalek opened the scoring with a
power-play goal 1:34 in. Alfredsson faked a shot before dishing off to
Alex Kovalev, who held the puck before feeding a pass to the slot which
Michalek redirected past Raycroft for his 19th of the season.
Ottawa had several more scoring chances throughout the first before Spezza made it a two-goal lead late in the opening period.
Linemates Alfredsson and Michalek drew assists as Spezza drove to the net and slid a shot past Raycroft for his 12th goal.
Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson left the game late in the second period. He suffered an upper-body injury and did not return.
Notes
Raycroft, who won the Calder
Trophy with Boston in 2003-04, is 99-100-26 overall with the Bruins,
Toronto, Colorado and Vancouver. … Luongo had made 26 straight
starts. He went 17-6-2 over that span. … Elliott won eight in a row
last season.