Hurricanes 2, Senators 1

OTTAWA (AP) - Martin Gerber shutdown the high-scoring Ottawa Senators - again.

Gerber made 35 saves to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the Senators on Tuesday night.

``He was awesome for us,'' said Eric Staal. ``Ottawa is one of the best teams in the league and anytime you can grind one out and win its great.''

Two of Ottawa's three losses this season have come against Carolina. Gerber had 44 saves in a 3-2 victory over the Senators on Oct. 24.

Ray Whitney and Mike Commodore scored second-period goals for the Hurricanes (13-3-1), who have won nine of their last 10 games.

``They played a fantastic road game,'' said Senators centre Bryan Smolinski. ``We kind of ad-libbed and got away from our game and we saw the result.''

Dominik Hasek made 17 saves while Daniel Alfredsson scored the lone goal for the Senators (13-3-0), picking up his 600th NHL career point in the process.

In many ways the Senators had been coasting of late. In its last five games Ottawa had outscored its opponents 31-9 and had seen little if any adversity.

``I thought we were over-trying,'' said Senators coach Bryan Murray. ``I thought in the second that once we got behind we kind of ran around and tried to do too much individually.''

After a scoreless first period that featured seven minor penalties, the Hurricanes opened the scoring 12 seconds into the second on a power-play goal from Whitney. Commodore made it 2-0 with 42 seconds remaining in the period, beating a screened Hasek with a shot from the point.

Despite having a number of good chances, including a breakaway by Jason Spezza, the Senators were unable to solve Gerber. It marked just the second time this season that Ottawa was held scoreless through two periods.

``Gerber is a really solid goalie,'' said Senators defenseman Zdeno Chara. ``He made some awesome saves, but you have to give the team credit. They battled hard and we did that in the third, but it was too late.''

The Senators finally beat Gerber at 3:55 of the third as Alfredsson scored his 16th goal of the season.

Carolina went 1-for-7 on the power play while the Senators were 0-for-8 and failed to capitalize on a 40-second two-man advantage in the third.

``I think the power play is trying to do too much,'' said Senators winger Dany Heatley. ``It's been like that a while and I think as a group we need to communicate better.''

Notes: Ottawa D Christoph Schubert was a healthy scratch. ... Hurricanes C Kevyn Adams played in his 200th game with Carolina. ... The Hurricanes were without LW Josef Vasicek (left knee), D Andrew Hutchinson (hip), D Niklas Wallin (wrist) and D Glen Wesley (groin).