Senators End Best Season in Style

For the first time in their history, the Ottawa Senators can call themselves a winning team.

Shawn McEachern scored two goals as the Senators finished the best season in their six-year existence with a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night at Buffalo, N.Y.

“The year before I came here, we were the worst team in the league, and now we have a winning record and made the playoffs twice in a row,” McEachern said. “It’s a pretty proud feeling.”

The Senators weren’t only the worst team in the league in 1995-96. They were a laughingstock that won only 18 games. But the Senators have been improving steadily since.

They made the playoffs for the first time last season and took Buffalo to seven games before losing in the first round. This season, they finished 34-33-15, marking the first time in their history they finished over .500.

“When I came to Ottawa, that was our objective, to build this franchise into a contender,” Senator Coach Jacques Martin said. “It’s interesting to see the character that they’ve shown going into the stretch run.”

Boston 2, Philadelphia 1--Steve Heinze scored his fourth goal in as many games as the Bruins locked up fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a win at Boston.

Sergei Samsonov continued his bid for rookie of the year honors with Boston’s other goal. Chris Gratton scored a third-period power-play goal for the Flyers.

Washington 2, Carolina 1--Peter Bondra scored his 51st and 52nd goals as Washington secured fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a victory at Washington.

Bondra’s goals came on special teams. His second-period goal was the Capitals’ 14th short-handed score of the season, tying a franchise record. It also was also Bondra’s 13th game-winning goal, which leads the league.

Toronto 2, Vancouver 1--Rookie Daniil Markov and Steve Sullivan scored second-period goals 75 seconds apart as the Maple Leafs ended a dismal season with a victory at Vancouver, Canada.

Toronto finished at 30-43-9, earning one more point than last season. A meaningless game between two teams eliminated from playoff contention, the victory allowed Toronto to finish in sole possession of 10th place in the Western Conference standings.