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BOX SCORE
KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators moved closer to
meeting owner Rod Bryden's goals at the box office and closer to
the top of the Northeast Division.
Shawn McEachern, Wade Redden and Grant Ledyard each had a goal
and an assist Thursday night as the Ottawa Senators won their third
straight at home, 6-2 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
|  | | Ottawa's Radek Bonk, left, tries to squeeze the puck past Tampa goalie Dan Cloutier. |
Earlier in the day, the Senators announced its season-ticket
drive, which Bryden said is crucial to keeping the franchise at
Ottawa, had almost met its target totals of 90 percent renewal and
1,500 new full-season equivalents.
The Senators, only three points behind division-leading Toronto,
built a 4-0 lead by the middle of the second period and coasted to
victory in front of a crowd of 16,214.
"We had a good forecheck, the forwards were coming back hard,
and the defense was standing up," said McEachern, whose goal was
his team-leading 22nd. "It's great when everybody gets involved
and gets scoring."
Marian Hossa, Joe Juneau and Rob Zamuner also scored for Ottawa,
unbeaten in its last five at home (4-0-1). Vaclav Prospal assisted
on McEachern's goal to extend his point-scoring streak to six
games. He has five goals and two assists in the stretch.
"Every point is so valuable in trying to catch Toronto," said
Zamuner, who broke a 10-game goal drought with his third-period
score. "Every game is big for us."
Vincent Lecavalier and Fredrik Modin had the goals for the
Lightning, winless in their last seven (0-4-1-2).
Tampa Bay hasn't won since beating the expansion Atlanta
Thrashers on Jan. 29 and the Lightning are winless in 16 road games
since a win over Anaheim on Dec. 1.
Ottawa's power play contributed to the win, with two goals on
seven attempts. Tampa Bay finished 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.
"It seems like everything is not going right," Lightning
defenseman Jassen Cullimore said. "We pride ourselves on working
hard. We can usually kill four or five penalties in a game, but
once we get over that, we usually give up a couple."
Ron Tugnutt made 17 saves to earn his 15th win.
Lightning starter Dan Cloutier allowed four goals on 23 shots
before being replaced by Rich Parent midway through the second.
Ottawa recorded 43 shots overall.
"I knew (Ottawa) was a strong team," Lightning coach Steve
Ludzik said. "Disciplined, a good skating team, well-coached --
it's tough on Cloutier. He's an emotional guy, a great goalie."
Hossa opened the scoring just 1:16 in, after he stripped the puck from Lightning defenseman Bryan Muir at the right faceoff circle. His quick shot beat Cloutier for his 21st goal.
After McEachern set up Juneau at 8:12 to make it 2-0, he added
his team-leading 22nd goal -- on the power play -- just 25 seconds
into the second.
Ledyard scored after intercepting a clearing attempt at the
Lightning blue line and blasting a slap shot past Cloutier, who was
then pulled.
Lecavalier scored at 14:38 to cut the lead to 4-1, but Redden
restored the four-goal advantage with another power-play goal with
1:27 left in the second.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
Ottawa Clubhouse
NHL seeking $7 million in damages from Yashin
RECAPS
Vancouver 2
Buffalo 1
Ottawa 6
Tampa Bay 2
Montreal 3
Carolina 0
Colorado 5
New Jersey 5
NY Islanders 2
Philadelphia 2
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