Senators rally to win, hold on to first place

The comeback of a season was needed to keep the Ottawa Senators exactly where they’ve been all season, in first place of the crowded-at-the-top NHL Eastern Conference.
Daniel Alfredsson scored on a backhander with 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Senators, at risk of falling out of the conference lead for the first time, rallied from three goals down to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 Saturday at Pittsburgh.
Alfredsson scored the winner on Ottawa’s final rush of overtime, not long after Pittsburgh’s Ryan Malone put a shot off the right post and goalie Ray Emery barely got his glove on Sergei Gonchar’s hard slap shot from the high slot.
Ty Conklin stopped Alfredsson’s initial shot, but the puck rebounded back to the Senators captain and, after cutting across the slot, he put a shot past Conklin to the short side for his 35th goal and sixth in his last 11 games against Pittsburgh.
“It was a character game. We came together. The effort was there, but it’s hard when you’re always in the box,” Alfredsson said, a reference to Pittsburgh getting the first six power-play chances.
Dany Heatley scored twice to key the comeback after coach John Paddock broke up the Senators’ top line of Heatley, Alfredsson and Jason Spezza at the start, though they were together at times later in the game. Spezza assisted on Heatley’s second goal, which tied it at 3 about six minutes into the third.
NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin’s 10-game scoring streak was halted, as was Pittsburgh’s three-game winning streak.
Rangers 4, Sabres 3: At Buffalo, N.Y., Sean Avery scored with 5:05 remaining, lifting New York to a win over the Sabres in a game between two teams battling for playoff contention.
Avery and Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and assist each, while Jaromir Jagr and Nigel Dawes also scored for the Rangers.
Blackhawks 6, Kings 5 (OT): At Los Angeles, Patrick Sharp scored his second goal of the game 1:48 into overtime and Chicago beat the Kings after blowing a four-goal lead in the third period.
Kings defenseman Peter Harrold scored his first NHL goal, and Michael Cammalleri, Tom Preissing, Patrick O’Sullivan and Anze Kopitar added goals in the final 11 minutes of the third.
Blue Jackets 3, Canadiens 0: At Montreal, Pascal Leclaire made 30 saves for his ninth shutout and Rick Nash and Andrew Murray scored first-period goals to lead Columbus to a win over the Canadiens.
Hurricanes 6, Capitals 3: At Raleigh, N.C., Matt Cullen scored twice and Eric Staal had the go-ahead score late in the second period to help the Hurricanes beat Washington.
Erik Cole added a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.
Devils 4, Islanders 2: At Newark, N.J., Zach Parise’s 25th goal snapped a third-period tie and gave New Jersey its first win of the season against New York.
Brian Gionta stretched the lead to two goals 2:13 later for the Devils, who broke a six-game skid to New York.
Bruins 5, Lightning 3: At Tampa, Fla., Glen Murray had two goals to lead Boston past Tampa Bay.
Milan Lucic, Mark Stuart and P.J. Axelsson also scored for the Bruins, who remain sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Panthers 2, Flyers 1 (OT): At Philadelphia, Jay Bouwmeester tied the game with 3.7 seconds left in regulation and Oli Jokinen scored the winner in overtime to lift Florida to a win over the Flyers.
Philadelphia matched a franchise record with 10 straight losses.
Canucks 4, Red Wings 1: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Ryan Kesler scored twice on individual rushes in the third period and Roberto Luongo stopped 28 shots, lifting the Canucks to a win over Detroit.
Stars 6, Predators 3: At Nashville, Tenn., Mike Ribeiro had two goals and two assists and Dallas beat Nashville.
Loui Eriksson also had two goals for the Stars, who have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Maple Leafs 3, Thrashers 1: At Toronto, Alex Steen and Nik Antropov had third-period goals and Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin also scored in what could have been his final game for Toronto, a victory over Atlanta.
It was the Maple Leafs’ last home game before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Sundin is expected to meet agent J.P. Barry in Ottawa today to discuss the no-movement clause in his contract that interim GM Cliff Fletcher wants him to waive.
Around the league
Minnesota Wild defenseman Nick Schultz signed a $21 million, six-year contract extension.