Spezza catches break in shootout
Notches winning goal after puck deflects off Oilers' Drouin-Deslauriers
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | 12:44 AM ET
By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports
It's 13 games and counting for Jason Spezza without a goal in regulation this season.
That mattered little on Tuesday night as Spezza beat Edmonton goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers in the shootout to seal a 4-3 win for the hometown Senators.
Spezza faked going across the crease and slid the puck behind Deslauriers off the post, watching it bank off the back of the netminder's left leg and over the goal-line for the winning goal.
Spezza's only other goal this NHL season came in overtime against Tampa Bay last Thursday.
Alex Kovalev also scored in the shootout, while Patrick O'Sullivan was the lone Oiler to beat Pascal Leclaire.
Spezza, who has 11 assists in 13 outings, couldn't beat Deslauriers on four shots in regulation and has one goal on 31 shots this season.
Ottawa's top line of Spezza between Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek had scoring chances throughout the game but couldn't capitalize, finishing with a combined eight shots. Alfredsson had his nine-game points streak halted.
Cheechoo nets 1st
Instead, it was Jonathan Cheechoo scoring his first goal as a Senator, followed by Nick Foligno and rugged winger Chris Neil.
Cheechoo, acquired from San Jose along with Michalek in the Dany Heatley trade in mid-October, has four points in 15 games.
It was the first meeting between the Oilers and Senators since a proposed deal fell apart on the eve of Canada Day that would have seen Heatley, who invoked his no-movement clause, head to Edmonton for forwards Dustin Penner and Andrew Cogliano plus defenceman Ladislav Smid.
Penner opened the scoring at 7:33 of the first period Tuesday, his team-leading 11th goal and 22nd point in 18 games. Heatley entered Tuesday's home game against Nashville with 11 goals and 19 points in 18 contests.
Ethan Moreau and Gilbert Brulé also scored for the Oilers, who fell to 2-6-0 on the road this season, 8-9-1 overall and 1-1 on their five-game road trip.
"It was probably our best three periods in a long time, and we maybe [could have] had a better result but we didn't, and the shootout we couldn't score," Edmonton head coach Pat Quinn said.
Smid was back in the lineup after missing three games with the flu and finished with a minus-1 rating in 19 minutes 31 seconds of ice time.
Edmonton, without eight regulars due to injury or illness, has dropped seven of the past nine encounters with Ottawa (1-7-1).
Neil breaks tie
The 8-5-2 Senators appeared on their way to a regulation victory but Leclaire, who has been inconsistent recently, couldn't snare a Brulé wrist shot and watched it trickle over the goal-line with five minutes left in regulation.
Neil, who was bumped to fourth-line duty when Ottawa head coach Cory Clouston sat forward Jesse Winchester for Ryan Shannon, snapped a 2-2 tie at 13:11 of the third period.
Neil converted a wraparound attempt, with the puck crossing the line as Neil sat on Deslauriers after being pushed by Moreau.
"I don't like the goals that went in on us again, and I have a problem with how the [Neil] one went in for sure," Quinn said. "It was interference on our goaltender and offside as well. I guess you've got to live with that but it makes it hard.
"But overall, thinking in terms of improvement, we were a little better in Colorado [on Sunday, 5-3 win] than we have been and this was a better effort and hopefully that will continue."
Another positive for the Senators was their ability to stay out of the penalty box. Averaging a league-high 20.2 minutes in penalties this season entering Tuesday, Ottawa was assessed only two infractions against the Oilers.
"We made it exciting and we were pretty disciplined," said Leclaire, who made 31 saves on the night. "There was the little breakdown by myself at the end but the guys came back and we were able to get the win, so it's a little easier to forget about."
Deslauriers stopped 22 of 25 shots in a rare start in place of Nikolai Khabibulin, who has faced 515 shots in 15 starts this season. Only Colorado's Craig Anderson (561 shots in 17 appearances) has faced more rubber.
Edmonton visits Buffalo on Wednesday night, while Ottawa has a date with the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday after going 2-2 on their four-game homestand.
With files from The Canadian Press
