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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Turnabout is fair play as far as the Ottawa
Senators are concerned.
Ottawa finally solved Arturs Irbe after 143 minutes without a
goal against him and scored a 2-0 victory over the Carolina
Hurricanes on Sunday.
|  | | Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime makes one of his 28 saves against Carolina. Lalime recorded his eighth career shutout. |
Patrick Lalime stopped 28 shots for his second shutout of the
season and eighth of his career to give the Hurricanes a bit of
their own medicine in a season series that has now seen three
shutouts.
"We got that kind of treatment from their goaltender before,"
Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said.
Carolina outshot the Senators 20-11, but Lalime was just too
strong in net.
"I thought he saved most everything," Carolina coach Paul
Maurice said. "He got lucky on a few, but I really thought he was
in great position. In a game like that, you tip your hat to the
goaltender and you move on to the next one."
Alexei Yashin and Rob Zamuner scored seven minutes apart in the
second period to provide the offense against Irbe as Ottawa won its
third straight and has the most wins (15) and points (34) in the
Eastern Conference, passing Toronto in both categories.
Carolina (10-11-3-1) couldn't get over .500 for the first time
since Oct. 18.
Despite the loss, Maurice was pleased with his team's effort.
"In the two games we won against them we weren't as strong
defensively and I'm not sure we had any better chances," Maurice
said. "It turns out sometimes your best effort comes in a loss."
Irbe was trying for his third shutout against the Senators in a
three-week span. He beat Ottawa 4-0 on Nov. 12 and 1-0 on Nov. 16.
But his scoreless streak against the Senators ended when Yashin
poked home a rebound early in the second period.
Irbe was coming off a shutout of Philadelphia on Thursday night
and had stopped 61 straight shots in seven periods against Ottawa
prior to Yashin's eighth of the season.
"Obviously, it's going to come to an end sometime," Irbe said.
"I wish I could shut out every single team every time I play, but
it's not the game, it's not in the cards. One goal was enough for
them."
Zamuner scored on another rebound midway through the second.
Carolina defenseman David Tanabe was without his stick and tried to
clear it with his glove. But the puck stayed in the zone and was
picked up by Sami Solo, whose shot was poked home by Zamuner.
Carolina looked as if it closed to 2-1 with nine seconds left in
the second, but an apparent power play goal was disallowed after
the goal light came on. The referees never signaled a goal for Sami
Kapanan and the replay judge said the video was inconclusive.
"It was a tough call at the end of the second period where the
referees and goal judges didn't have guts," Irbe said. "We are
not going to appeal, so the game is over and we move on."
Lalime's best save came with 14:31 left when he stopped Rob
DiMaio from point-blank range.
"He made some big, big stops at crucial times," DiMaio said.
"Whenever you do that it's going to give your team a chance to
win. When they get a lead they're a good hockey team and they don't
give you a whole lot."
"If your goalie is your best player then you're going to win a
lot of games," Ottawa's Shawn McEachern said. "Tonight, he was
our best player."
Game notes
Ron Francis played in his 1,432nd game, tying him with Mike
Gartner for ninth on the all-time NHL list. ... Zamuner matched his
nine goals of a season ago in game No. 26. ... Carolina's Bates
Battaglia had his six-game point streak snapped. ... Yashin has
seven points in his last five games. ... Ottawa was 3-16-2 against
Carolina on the road prior to Sunday's win.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Ottawa Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 1
NY Islanders 1
Ottawa 2
Carolina 0
Colorado 6
NY Rangers 3
Anaheim 4
Los Angeles 0
Chicago 5
Columbus 0
San Jose 3
Edmonton 3
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