Bochenski boosts Sens
LAST NIGHT IN THE NHL Rookie scores hat trick to lead Ottawa blowout Prucha nets pair as Rangers break out of slump
Brandon Bochenski had his first career hat trick and the NHLleading Ottawa Senators won for the eighth time in nine games, beating the Panthers 6- 3 in Florida. Dominik Hasek made 26 saves to help the Senators improve to 21- 4 overall and 17- 0 when leading after two periods.
Ottawa leads the NHL in both goals scored and fewest goals allowed, scoring 115 and allowing only 52.
Bochenski’s three goals gave the rookie five overall in 13 games. It was his third game since being recalled Nov. 30 from Binghamton of the AHL.
Florida’s Roberto Luongo stopped 27 of 33 shots before being replaced by Jamie McLennan following Bochenski’s third goal at 5: 44 of the third.
Chris Neil, Vaclav Varada and Daniel Alfredsson also scored for Ottawa, which scored five straight goals after falling behind 2- 1 in the first period.
Niklas Hagman, Mike Van Ryn and Joe Nieuwendyk scored for the Panthers, who were trying to win three straight games for the first time this season.
Bochenski scored his first goal of the game on a breakaway at 7: 51 of the second to give Ottawa a 3- 2 lead.
After intercepting Eric Cairns’ pass in the Ottawa zone, Bochenski skated in on Luongo before sending a wrist shot to the goalie’s high glove side just as Florida’s Alexei Semenov caught up to him. The Senators made it 4- 2 when Alfredsson scored his 21st goal at 10: 49 of the second. His shot from just inside the blue line got past Luongo, who appeared to have been screened. Bochenski scored a powerplay goal at 1: 59 of the third. Ottawa was 2 for 5 on the power play. WILD at RANGERS:
Petr Prucha scored two power- play goals, including the tiebreaker with 8: 29 remaining, and the New York Rangers got back on the winning track with a 3- 1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Prucha jumped on a rebound of Martin Straka’s shot and chipped it over sprawled-out goalie Dwayne Roloson for his ninth goal. Prucha also gave the Rangers a 1- 0 lead in the first period. Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves to improve to 8-1-1 at home, two nights after allowing five goals on 21 shots in a loss at Washington that snapped New York’s six- game winning streak. Straka scored an empty- net goal with 19 seconds left for the Rangers, who held a 19- 4 shots advantage in the third period. New York has won five straight at home.
Pascal Dupuis scored late in the second period for the Wild, who entered with the NHL’s best penalty- killing unit.
Minnesota allowed more than one power- play goal in a game for only the third time this season. The Wild are 0- 2- 1 on their five- game trip. The first period was very unWild like as the Rangers grabbed the lead with a powerplay goal on a shot Roloson should’ve kept out of the net.