Toronto Maple Leafs 1, Ottawa Senators 4 FINAL

OTTAWA (AP) _ The Ottawa Senators' determined effort to get some pucks past Toronto's Ed Belfour finally paid off.

Daniel Alfredsson scored late in the first period to end Ottawa's two-game scoreless streak, and Marian Hossa got the go-ahead goal in the second, helping the Senators to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

``There was no way he was going to shut us out for three straight games,'' Alfredsson said.

Ottawa tied the first-round playoff series at 2-all. The Senators held a 36-24 margin in shots, reaching 30 shots for the fourth straight game while outshooting Toronto in each game of the series.

``They're a great team for a reason,'' said Maple Leafs forward Gary Roberts, who scored his third goal of the series in the first period. ``They've had a great season. We know they're a good hockey club and we need to be smarter to play against them. They've got a lot of skilled guys. You give them those good opportunities and eventually they're going to score.''

Game 5 will be played Friday in Toronto.

Ottawa ended Belfour's shutout streak at 157:45 when Alfredsson scored with 35.6 seconds remaining in the first period, tying the game.

``I think it gave us some momentum,'' Alfredsson said. ``When we came in after the first it was very controlled. We were focused, we still had 40 minutes to play and that was just one part of it.

``It was a big goal for us, but it was just a goal.''

Hossa, who had six shots in the first, thrust his arms skyward after he scored his third goal of the series to give the Senators the lead 13:15 into the second.

``That definitely was a big relief,'' said Hossa, who had a team-high 10 shots Monday. ``I knew that if I just kept shooting, eventually one has to go in and that one did.''

Todd White and Chris Phillips added third-period goals for Ottawa.

Senators goalie Patrick Lalime stopped 23 shots, while Belfour made 32 saves.

``We played a good game,'' Alfredsson said. ``We did a lot of good things again. I think maybe we got some more bounces tonight than we've had in the past. ... We're still going to have to improve in that area I think.''

Already without center Joe Nieuwendyk, the Maple Leafs lost captain Mats Sundin early in the third period. Sundin slid into the boards after being tripped by Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden on a partial breakaway. No penalty was called.

``I hope he's O.K. and he'll be able to go for us next game,'' Maple Leafs defenseman Brian Leetch said. ``(Joe's) got a sore back and we were watching him get rehab in the last couple of days, so we knew that he was questionable going into the game.''

Nieuwendyk scored his second goal of the series in Toronto's 2-0 win Monday.

Roberts scored on a power play 16:53 in. Toronto struggled the rest of the way and squandered the home-ice advantage it regained Monday with Belfour's second straight 2-0 shutout win.

Alfredsson finally solved Belfour late in the opening period, backhanding a shot along the ice and under the goalie's pads to tie it at 1.

Ottawa hadn't scored since Marian Hossa got his second goal 1:39 into the third period of the Senators' series opening 4-2 win.

Hossa, who was stopped by Belfour in the first on a breakaway, got another chance in the second when he broke in on a 2-on-1 with Radek Bonk. Hossa stopped suddenly and fired a wrist shot past Belfour, drawing a thunderous cheer from the sellout crowd of 18,500.

``This time I decided to shoot and it seems like I made the right decision,'' Hossa said.

Sundin had a chance to tie it early in the third on the play that resulted in his injury. But Lalime stopped Sundin's shot as Redden knocked his skates out from under him and sent him crashing into the corner.

``That was a big save by Pat,'' Redden said. ``I hustled back there and I was just trying to dive and sweep the puck away. I don't know if I got the puck, but he tripped up a bit from it.''

White scored moments later, at 3:37, to make it 3-1. Phillips closed out the scoring with his first goal on a power play.