Senators Win on Strength of Lalime

The Ottawa Senators know why they sit atop the NHL’s Eastern Conference: goaltender Patrick Lalime.

“Lalime is the No. 1 reason we keep winning,” Marian Hossa said Thursday after the All-Star goalie stopped 24 shots in a 2-0 victory over Edmonton at Ottawa. “He played unbelievable. It’s nice to be able to get two shutouts against a team like that.”

Lalime got his second consecutive shutout and seventh of the season, tying a career high. He also tied Toronto’s Ed Belfour and New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur for the league lead.

“I’m trying to do the same job every game,” Lalime said. “I saw the puck really well. The guys in front of the net did a good job clearing the puck. The players are ready to pay the price on our team.”

Hossa scored his 36th goal and Magnus Arvedson had his ninth.

The win, the Senators’ first at home against Edmonton since 1992, enabled Ottawa to win the season series for the first time since 1993-94. Ottawa also shut out Edmonton, 2-0, on Jan. 11.

“It’s a frustrating loss for us, again being shut out by the same team twice,” Oiler Coach Craig MacTavish said. “We had a few chances tonight and Lalime was up to the task. Anytime we got through, he made the save.”

Columbus 2, Montreal 1 -- Jaroslav Spacek, the Blue Jackets’ top-scoring defenseman, got the winning goal 28 seconds into overtime at Montreal.

Spacek, who assisted on Geoff Sanderson’s power-play goal late in the second period, scored on a power play after Montreal’s Yanic Perreault was penalized with 55 seconds left in the third period.

Nashville 2, New York Islanders 0 -- Tomas Vokoun turned back 36 shots at Nashville to give the Predators their first shutout of the season. It was the seventh career shutout for Vokoun.

Nashville got first-period goals from Vladimir Orszagh and Andreas Johansson, but Islander goaltender Garth Snow made 22 saves in the last two periods and 30 for the game.

Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 3 -- Michal Handzus scored on a rebound at 2:02 of overtime at St. Louis to complete the Flyers’ rally from a three-goal deficit.

Jeremy Roenick and Kim Johnsson scored on consecutive shots in the third period to force overtime. Handzus beat Brent Johnson for his 16th goal as the Flyers outshot the Blues, 3-2, in the extra period, with Johnsson assisting on the play.

The Flyers had been shut out the previous two games by Minnesota.

Detroit 4, Buffalo 2 -- Sergei Fedorov scored twice at Detroit and the Red Wings won consecutive games for the first time since Dec 28.

Jason Woolley and Igor Larionov scored the Red Wings’ other goals, Brendan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom each had two assists, and Curtis Joseph made 31 saves.

It was Fedorov’s first goals at Joe Louis Arena and first two-goal game since Dec. 14.

Vancouver 2, Colorado 1 -- Brendan Morrison scored 1:58 into overtime and the Canucks rallied from a late deficit to defeat the Avalanche at Vancouver. Milan Hejduk scored for Colorado, which saw its six-game winning streak end as well as its 10-game unbeaten streak.

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Andre Roy was suspended for three games by the NHL for shoving an official during a game against the New York Islanders.... St. Louis Blues center Doug Weight is out indefinitely because of a broken bone in his face, suffered when he was hit by a puck Tuesday against Buffalo.