Heatley extends point streak to 21 games as Senators win

OTTAWA (AP) -- The Ottawa Senators' top line keeps adding to its

impressive scoring totals.

Jason Spezza had two goals and two assists and linemates Dany

Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson each had a goal and two assists,

leading Ottawa to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday

night.

Spezza and Alfredsson both have 39 points, tying the New York

Rangers' Jaromir Jagr and Philadelphia's Peter Forsberg for the NHL

scoring lead. Heatley moved up to fifth overall with 37 points.

"We read off each other well," Spezza said. "It may look like

we plan things but a lot of times it's criss-crossing and finding

the holes. Nobody's selfish with the puck and I think that's what

makes us a good line. We move the puck well and nobody cares who

scores the goals."

Heatley needed only 34 seconds to extend his points streak to 21

games, picking up an assist on Spezza's goal on the opening shift.

Alfredsson also got an assist on the play, with Spezza scoring off

Heatley's rebound.

"I know it's there, but I'm not putting too much emphasis on

it," Heatley said of the streak. "I just want to go out and play

well, move the puck with those two and things will care of

themselves."

The Senators, 18-3-0 overall, have won five straight and 10 of

11. Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa opened the season with six

straight wins from Oct. 5-21.

"They really can't do too much wrong," said Bruins goalie

Andrew Raycroft, who made 36 saves as the Senators outshot Boston

40-24, including a 16-5 margin in the first.

Brad Isbister scored his fourth goal to tie it at 1 in the

first, and Nick Boynton scored the Bruins' other goal with 19.3

seconds remaining.

Boston (8-12-5) lost for the second straight night after ending

a season-high six-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 5-1 win

in Toronto.

"We make it hard on ourselves in certain situations," Bruins

coach Mike Sullivan said. "We've got opportunities to advance the

puck and move the puck, simple options, short options, and we're

looking for the better play and it's cost us. You combine that with

some avoidable penalties against a team like this, that has a

potent power play, and it's tough to win."

Ottawa went 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Boston was 0-for-7.

Veteran defenseman Brian Leetch returned to the Bruins' lineup

after missing 10 games because of a knee injury.

"I had high expectations but the game seemed pretty quick to me

out there after being off for a month," Leetch said. "I got

caught looking a few times on some of their criss-crosses and

stuff, but overall the knee held up pretty good."

Spezza's 10th goal, a power-play score 9 seconds into the second

period, put the Senators up 2-1. Heatley, who made a skate save to

prevent a Boston goal midway through the third, made it 3-1 when he

scored his 17th goal on another power play at 15:41.

Alfredsson added his team-leading 19th goal 6:21 into the third,

teaming up with Heatley and Spezza once again.

Heatley even displayed some goaltending skill moments later,

backing up Dominik Hasek who was caught out of the nets after

making a sprawling save on Eric Nickulas' shot. Standing at the

left post, Heatley had Tom Fitzgerald's follow-up shot deflect off

his skate and along the goal line.

Heatley has 17 goals and 20 assists and is the only NHL player

to register a point in every one of his team's games this season.

Spezza, who has scored a goal in each of his last four games,

extended both his assist and point streaks to six games.

The Corel Centre crowd observed a moment of silence prior to the

game in memory of Ottawa forward Chris Neil's mother Bonnie. She

was killed in a car accident Tuesday.Game notes
Bruins captain Joe Thornton assisted on Boynton's goal to

extend his point streak to five games. ... Alexandre Daigle holds

the Senators' record for fastest goal from the start of a period.

Daigle, now with Minnesota, scored 7 seconds into the second period

of Ottawa's 3-3 road tie against the New York Islanders on Jan. 22,

1995. ... Neil has missed three games since learning of his

mother's death while he was with the team in Raleigh, N.C. Bonnie

Neil's funeral was held Saturday. ... Senators rookie Andrej

Meszaros was originally credited with Spezza's second goal. He lost

what would have been his first NHL goal when off-ice officials

reviewed the play following the game and determined Spezza had

tipped the defenseman's point shot. "I'm not disappointed,"

Meszaros said. "The most important thing is we won the game."