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BOX SCORE
OTTAWA (AP) -- It took Alexei Yashin three goals to earn a
measure of forgiveness.
Yashin registered his sixth career hat trick as the Ottawa
Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 Saturday night to complete
a perfect three-game homestand.
|  | | Senators center Alexei Yashin earned his sixth career hat trick Saturday. |
Yashin opened the scoring 2:07 into the game and added his
second goal at 10:30 of the second.
Yashin, who sat out all last season in a contract dispute, then
broke a 3-3 tie by beating Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore with a
shot from the right faceoff circle with under nine minutes
remaining.
"Alexei is a great player, and coming back, he's played some
excellent hockey for us," Senators coach Jacques Martin said.
"And tonight was one of those nights where he made the difference
in the hockey game, he won the game. Sometimes, when you've got
some top players, they can do that."
Ottawa's fans, who usually boo Yashin regardless of his
performance, gave him a standing ovation and showered the ice with
at least a dozen baseball caps after his 13th goal of the season.
"It's nice to see some people still like me," Yashin said.
Canadiens rookie Andrei Markov's second goal of the game, 4:01
into the third period, had tied it 3-3.
Montreal, which handed Pittsburgh its first loss since Mario
Lemieux came out of retirement the night before, finished its
longest road trip of the season with six points in six games,
including two wins and two overtime losses.
"We had a lot of confidence coming into this game," Canadiens
captain Saku Koivu said. "We were having a good road trip and at
one point, we had a chance to win the game. But when they scored
the winning goal, we didn't create anything at the end. They played
tight defensively the last five or six minutes and we just couldn't
do anything there."
Daniel Alfredsson assisted on two of Yashin's goals and Wade
Redden had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who raised their
record to 22-12-6, tying New Jersey for the best winning percentage
in the Eastern Conference.
Ottawa has one more victory than the Devils, so Martin will
guide the World All-Star team at the 51st NHL All-Star Game, at
Denver on Feb. 4.
"We don't know who's going to be in the All-Star game, but we
already have somebody," Yashin said. "It's great for our team and
our organization. And I'm sure it's great for him, too."
Though he was happy to earn the job, Martin preferred to thank
the players.
"It feels good," Martin said. "The credit should go to the
players. The 40 games that they've played, they've played hard and
it's a credit to them for what we've been able to accomplish so
far."
Ottawa has won all three meetings between the teams this season,
including a 1-0 home win on Dec. 8, and a 4-2 victory in a rematch
between the teams the next night in Montreal.
Redden put the Senators ahead 2-0 with his sixth goal of the
season -- and third in two games -- on a power play at 12:44.
Markov scored just 36 seconds later for Montreal.
Gino Odjick scored his first goal in 10 games with the Canadiens
1:01 later to tie it 2-2.
Game notes
Ottawa beat St. Louis 3-1 and Tampa Bay 8-3 at home in
their previous two games. ... With 18,500 in attendance, the
Senators recorded their fifth sellout in 22 games at the Corel
Centre this season.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
Ottawa Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 5
NY Rangers 5
Colorado 2
Carolina 2
Phoenix 2
NY Islanders 1
Ottawa 4
Montreal 3
Atlanta 2
Philadelphia 2
Washington 3
Toronto 2
Dallas 4
Boston 0
Buffalo 2
Nashville 0
St. Louis 5
Minnesota 1
Los Angeles 5
Calgary 0
Vancouver 4
Columbus 3
San Jose 3
Florida 1
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