|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Wednesday, Mar. 15 9:00pm ET
Sens, Lalime deal Flames a setback | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- It looks like Patrick Lalime isn't ready to hand over Ottawa's No. 1 goalie job to Tom Barrasso. With the newly acquired Barrasso looking on from the press box, Lalime made 36 saves, barely missing his second straight shutout in leading the Senators to a 3-1 victory Wednesday night over the fading Calgary Flames. Lalime improved to 17-11-3 and is unbeaten in five starts (4-0-1), during which he has a 1.18 goals-against average. "You have to give credit when you play good defense like this because not only is it the defensemen, but it's the forwards backchecking too," Lalime said. Barrasso was acquired by the Senators on Tuesday from Pittsburgh for Ron Tugnutt and defenseman Janne Laukkanen. The 34-year-old goalie recently resumed skating after spending three weeks with his family following the death of his father. Lalime lost his shutout with 16 seconds left when rookie Jeff Cowan tipped in a slap shot by Derek Morris. "You always hate to give the other goalie credit but tonight he played really well," Flames right wing Jarome Iginla said. "We outchanced them by a lot, hit three posts, but it was one of those nights where we didn't get in there for any rebounds and the goalie wasn't giving up any rebounds anyway." Lalime had very few close-in chances to stop as many of the shots came from the perimeter. "Calgary has a lot of quick forwards but our defense were quick on the puck whenever they got a chance and didn't give them a lot of time," said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who scored his 15th goal. "There were hardly any odd-man rushes, no 2-on-1's, we played a real solid road game." Shawn McEachern and Radek Bonk also scored for Ottawa, which moved past idle Florida and into fifth spot in the Eastern Conference. In running their road unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2), the Senators also moved within five points of Northeast Division-leading Toronto, which lost to Chicago. Ottawa is 6-1-2 in its last nine games. "It's real tight and we still have Toronto in our focus, we'd like to catch them and get second or third in our conference," Lalime said. The Flames, who trail San Jose for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, lost their fifth in a row. "Each game now definitely gets more desperate," Iginla said. "We need a little four- or five-game winning streak which is still possible." It was a tough debut for Flames defenseman Brad Werenka, acquired from Pittsburgh on Tuesday. He was caught out of position on Ottawa's second goal, with 4:14 left in the second period. Bonk slipped behind Werenka and was alone in front to bang Marian Hossa's centering pass behind goalie Fred Brathwaite. Flames rookie defenseman Robyn Regehr was the victim on Alfredsson's goal 1:59 into the third period that put Ottawa ahead 3-0. The Ottawa captain picked off Regehr's clearing attempt along the boards. When Regehr came at him, Alfredsson stepped around him and had a clear break for a wrist shot that beat Brathwaite. McEachern gave Ottawa the lead 4:18 into the game. Joe Juneau worked the puck to Andreas Dackell, whose centering pass to an uncovered McEachern was one-timed past Brathwaite. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Ottawa Clubhouse Calgary Clubhouse RECAPS Dallas 3 New Jersey 2
Ottawa 3
  | |||||