Pittsburgh Comes Up Short Against Ottawa

Daniel Alfredsson scored twice, including one of Ottawa’s three short-handed goals, and the Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-2, on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Ottawa’s three short-handed goals were the most given up by Pittsburgh in more than 17 seasons. The Penguins fell to 1-13-1 in their last 15 games.

Wade Redden and Jason Spezza had three assists each and Zdeno Charra and Dany Heatley had a goal and assist each for the Senators, who ended a two-game losing streak and dominated the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

The Penguins were playing without standout rookie center Sidney Crosby, who had flu. They also rested starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, meaning the matchup was future Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek against backup Sebastien Caron.

Minnesota 3, San Jose 2 -- Brian Rolston scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Wild a win on the road.

Marian Gaborik scored on a penalty shot late in regulation to tie the score. Minnesota was awarded the shot when a Shark player covered the puck with his glove in the crease.

St. Louis 6, Chicago 5 -- Rookie Lee Stempniak scored two goals and got the winner in a shootout for the second time this week.

Petr Cajanek had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who are 8-15-3 at home and won after squandering a 3-0 second-period lead. The Blues, tied for last overall with the Penguins, have won consecutive games at home for the first time all season, and have won consecutive games only twice all season.

Columbus 2, Edmonton 1 -- Jason Chimera scored in the eighth round of a shootout to give Columbus its second shootout win on the road in as many nights and a franchise-record fifth consecutive victory overall.

Nashville 4, Colorado 3 -- Steve Sullivan scored on a breakaway 2:09 into overtime, and Nashville won at home to end a three-game skid.

Scott Walker scored two goals, the second tying the score with 2:39 left in regulation. Mike Sillinger also scored his first goal since being traded to Nashville from St. Louis on Sunday, and the Predators took the season series from Colorado, 3-1.

New York Rangers 5, New York Islanders 2 -- Martin Straka beat Rick DiPietro on a penalty shot on the road and Kevin Weekes made 23 saves for his first victory in nearly eight weeks.

Straka fired a wrist shot under DiPietro’s left arm to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead midway through the second period. The Czech forward was awarded the penalty shot after defenseman Joel Bouchard grabbed him from behind on a breakaway.

Buffalo 4, Philadelphia 2 -- Ryan Miller made 21 saves to win his fourth consecutive game, and four players scored at home for Buffalo in a win over Philadelphia.

Boston 3, Montreal 1 -- Glen Murray and Patrice Bergeron scored power-play goals less than two minutes apart at home and the Bruins are 7-1-2 in the last 10 games since Tim Thomas became the starter.

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Vancouver Canuck captain Markus Naslund will miss the Olympics because of a lingering groin injury, dealing a blow to Sweden’s chances for a gold medal. Naslund will be replaced by Detroit Red Wing forward Tomas Holmstrom.