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Ottawa Senators 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 1 FINAL
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Martin Prusek stopped Tampa Bay's best scoring chance -- a three-man breakaway -- and extended the Lightning's scoring woes.

Prusek made 29 saves for his third straight win, and Jason Spezza had two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 4-1 victory over the Lightning on Thursday night.

Prusek stopped Shane Willis' wrist shot from the low slot during a three-man rush in the final seconds of the second period. Willis, who took a pass from Vincent Lecavalier, hit Prusek in the upper body with his shot.

"It was nothing that I did," Prusek said through an interpreter. "The puck hit me right on the shoulder, so I was lucky.

"I was just in the net, waiting for the moves from the guys. I was waiting to see what would happen."

Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella called the play crucial.

"I think the most important of the game was the three-on-zero," Tortorella said. "We have probably one of our best players (Lecavalier) with the puck. I think you need to be selfish right there and go down and score the goal.

"That's the mind-set we need to get, too. It's not a negative on Vinny, but you can't be worrying about setting somebody else. We need to have someone say 'I'm going to make the difference here."'

Prusek has allowed just two goals in his three wins while filling in for Patrick Lalime, who is sidelined by the flu.

"Prusek has been unbelievable for us," Spezza said. "To have him stopping three-on-0s and stuff like that, it's great. It's awesome."

Bryan Smolinski and Antoine Vermette also scored for Ottawa. It was Vermette's first NHL goal, coming in his 20th game.

Dave Andreychuk scored for the Lightning, who have lost three straight. Tampa Bay is winless in its last six games (0-4-2) and has scored just six goals in the span.

"You can sense the frustration," Andreychuk said. "We have to try and stay positive, and that's the way we're going to get through it."

Tampa Bay built a 13-3 advantage in shots in the first period as the teams traded power-play goals.

Smolinski put the Senators ahead 11:38, and Andreychuk tied it at 13:36.

Andreychuk, who has 615 career goals, snapped a 14-game scoreless streak and raised his career power-play goal total to 262.

Prusek made several strong saves in the first period, including two chances from close range by Martin St. Louis.

Prusek also made two point-blank stops on shots by Andreychuk during a Tampa Bay power play just before Spezza scored to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.

Spezza made it 3-1 on a third-period breakaway goal at 6:34, and Vermette scored into an empty net in the final minute.


Three star selections
1st:   JASON SPEZZA
2nd:   MARTIN PRUSEK
3rd:   DAVE ANDREYCHUK
Winning Goaltender
Martin Prusek

Losing Goaltender
John Grahame

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

EASTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 z - PIT 48 36 12 0 165 119 72
2 y - MTL 48 29 14 5 149 126 63
3 y - WSH 48 27 18 3 149 130 57
4 x - BOS 48 28 14 6 131 109 62
5 x - TOR 48 26 17 5 145 133 57
6 x - NYR 48 26 18 4 130 112 56
7 x - OTT 48 25 17 6 116 104 56
8 x - NYI 48 24 17 7 139 139 55
9 WPG 48 24 21 3 128 144 51
10 PHI 48 23 22 3 133 141 49
11 NJD 48 19 19 10 112 129 48
12 BUF 48 21 21 6 125 143 48
13 CAR 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 TBL 48 18 26 4 148 150 40
15 FLA 48 15 27 6 112 171 36

STATS

2012-2013 PLAYOFFS
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
D. Alfredsson 8 3 5 4 8
E. Condra 8 1 6 2 7
K. Turris 8 4 2 1 6
J. Pageau 8 4 2 7 6
E. Karlsson 8 1 5 1 6
S. Gonchar 8 0 6 3 6
M. Methot 8 1 4 0 5
M. Zibanejad 8 1 3 0 4
C. Greening 8 3 0 2 3
C. Conacher 7 3 0 -1 3
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
R. Lehner 0 1 0 .952 1.58
C. Anderson 5 2 0 .940 2.17
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