With the Eastern Conference standings as tight as they are, a four point weekend is exactly what the Ottawa Senators needed.
Robin Lehner stopped 25 of 26 shots, Daniel Alfredsson had two assists, Jakob Silfverberg scored twice and the Senators finally played a game that wasn't decided by a single goal as they cruised to a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
With the two points against the Southeast leading Jets, the Senators pull seven points clear of the 9th place New York Islanders.
The Jets played last night in Toronto and certainly looked like a tired team in the first period.
Before this game was four minutes old, it was the Captain Daniel Alfredsson pushing the puck passed the Jets defender and off the skate of Guillaume Latendresse to give Ottawa an early 1-0 lead. Jakob Silfverberg stretched the lead to 2-0 as he finished off a terrific cross ice feed from Sergei Gonchar with the Senators on the power play. With that assist Gonchar stretched his point streak to seven games. He has been playing some fantastic hockey recently.
The home side controlled the opening 20, outshooting Winnipeg by a 19-6 margin.
Things were a lot more even in the middle frame, as the Jets seemed to find their legs a little bit. Both Pavelec and Lehner made big stops, keeping the game at 2-0 heading into the third.
Early in the third a lost defensive zone face off led to point shot by Zach Bogosian that beat a surprised Robin Lehner high on the glove side. Certainly looked like the puck hit something on the way through. Lehner was not phased though as he made one of the best stops of the season, robbing Evander Kane on a shorthanded 2 on 1.
A huge save at a key point in the hockey game.
Moments later, the Senators returned to the power play where Kyle Turris converted a nifty pass from Alfredsson to give the Sens the breathing room they needed. Silfverberg scored his second of the night and 6th of the season to stretch the lead to 4-1.
The Senators now hit the road for a date with the Islanders on Tuesday night before returning home to play five straight at Scotiabank Place.
