Final at ScotiaBank Place
Washington 2[/color]
Ottawa 5
Sens top Caps for season-high fifth straight winOTTAWA (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators are quickly and quietly re-establishing their reputation as one of the NHL's dominant teams.
Mike Comrie scored twice and Daniel Alfredsson had a shorthanded goal and an assist as Ottawa extended its winning streak to a season-high five games with a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
Comrie, acquired in a Jan. 3 trade with Phoenix, scored a power-play goal 19:33 into the first. He added his second of the game -- his fourth in four games -- midway through the second to increase the Senators' lead to three.
Ray Emery made 28 saves and Andrej Meszaros and Peter Schaefer also scored for Ottawa, which had three four-game winning streaks prior to its current run.
"I think the biggest thing that we're doing right now as a team is we're playing smart and capitalizing on our opportunities," Comrie said. "When you play hard every night, it's hard to play against you."
The Senators moved into second place in the Northeast Division with 56 points, one ahead of Montreal. Ottawa won four straight after losing playmaker Jason Spezza to a knee injury on Dec. 21, beginning its stretch of 10 wins in 12 games (10-1-1).
"We knew how important this homestretch was," Alfredsson said. "You have to make the most of it and, so far, we've done that. Hopefully we can finish off with two more wins before the [All-Star] break to really put ourselves in good position."
Brent Johnson stopped 29 shots for the Capitals, who lost their third in a row following a three-game winning streak. Washington has dropped 10 of 14 overall.
"We made a lot of mistakes and gave them a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities," said defenseman Brian Pothier, who signed with the Capitals as a free agent after spending the previous three seasons with Ottawa. "With a team like that, they're going to score goals. Ottawa's a good team. If you give them the puck too much, they're going to score goals."
Chris Clark scored a shorthanded goal with 2.3 seconds left in the first to draw Washington to 2-1.
Capitals scoring leader Alexander Ovechkin assisted on Steve Eminger's first goal of the season 5:35 into the third.
"We didn't play very well tonight and we need to score more goals," Ovechkin said.
Alfredsson got his 32nd assist on Meszaros' sixth goal, which opened the scoring 16:56 in.
Comrie made it 2-0 with 27 seconds remaining in the first when he put a loose puck in the crease into a wide-open net after Johnson gathered it beneath him and inadvertently pulled it between his pads and behind him.
With Pothier in the penalty box, Clark stunned the Senators before the end of the period when he put a wrist shot past Emery into the top right corner on a two-on-one.
Ottawa got a shorthanded goal 9:14 into the second as Alfredsson restored the Senators' two-goal lead with his 16th after the puck bounced to him in front of the net off the boards behind Johnson.
Comrie's second of the game at 10:21 made it 4-1.
Schaefer scored his eighth 13:36 into the third after Eminger had cut the lead to 4-2 with his first goal since April 18.
