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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- After missing 13 of Ottawa's first 20
games with a hip injury, Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson has been something of a forgotten man around the Corel Centre.
|  | | Shawn McEachern got the Senators on the board first. |
Alfredsson was the center of attention Tuesday night, however,
as his goal with just 13.8 seconds remaining lifted the Senators to
a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.
Alfredsson jammed Alexei Yashin's rebound between the pads of goalie Byron Dafoe at 19:46, just 12 seconds after newly acquired Bill Guerin silenced the sellout crowd with his first goal with the Bruins.
"I was a little discouraged just 10 seconds earlier," said
Alfredsson, who played his second game since returning to the
lineup. "It's a little bit lucky, but if feels extremely good.
Boston is a division rival."
Former Bruins player Shawn McEachern put the Senators up 1-0
with a power-play goal at 19:01 of the second period, and it looked
like Patrick Lalime would make it stand.
During Alfredsson's absence, Ottawa's young guns -- Marian Hossa,
Radek Bonk and rookie Martin Havlat -- have received most of the
credit for leading the Senators into first place in the Northeast Division.
Ottawa has won back-to-back games after losing four in a row
before Alfredsson's return.
"He's giving us some spark," coach Jacques Martin said. "He's finishing his checks, keeping it simple. He's showing his leadership. We made a mistake late in the game and we were fortunate to come back."
Boston (6-10-2-2) has lost its last eight road games and three
straight overall. The Bruins, winless in four games, are 3-6-1-2
since coach Mike Keenan replaced the fired Pat Burns on Oct. 25.
"It's a tough one to swallow," Dafoe said. "I'm really
speechless -- 25 seconds left. It's really, really frustrating to
come so close and give it back 10 seconds later. Yashin shot it and
it hit my pad. Alfredsson just crashed the net."
Ottawa's power play went 1-for-6, while Boston's finished 0-for-3.
"We played a very good hockey team," said Guerin, playing in
his second game with Boston after being acquired from Edmonton last
week. "It's frustrating, it's tough. You always try to take
positives, but you have to face reality. We didn't win. We let it
slip away. We have to start winning."
While Dafoe (1-4-2) finished with 28 saves, it was Lalime (5-3-1) who kept the Bruins off the scoreboard early.
Lalime stopped Sergei Samsonov on a short-handed 2-on-1 in the first with a glove save, then denied him again in the second, from in close, with the Bruins on the power play.
Game notes
Lalime made 22 saves. ... Ottawa right-wing Andreas Dackell
returned to the lineup after missing the Senators' last game with
the flu. The absence stopped Dackell's team-best consecutive-game
streak at 140. ... The Senators tied a team record for most points
after 20 games with 26. ... Keenan coached his 1,007th NHL game,
breaking a tie with Jacques Demers for fifth on the NHL career
list.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Ottawa Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 3
NY Rangers 1
Ottawa 2
Boston 1
Florida 4
Montreal 1
Vancouver 4
St. Louis 3
Chicago 4
Phoenix 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Goalie Patrick Lalime gets a little help from fellow Senator Karel Rachunek.
avi: 628 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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