GameTrax: Stats and more
OTTAWA (AP) -- Unaware of his own record-breaking goal, Alex
Kovalev was delighted to make Sergei Gonchar's 1,000th game that much
more memorable.
Kovalev scored twice and added an assist,
combining with Erik Karlsson for the fastest two goals in Ottawa
history to lead the Senators past the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 on Tuesday
night.
Karlsson and Kovalev scored 9 seconds
apart in the first period to break the previous team record by 1
second. Karlsson opened the scoring with a power-play goal 5:27 in. His
goal was still being announced when Kovalev made it 2-0 at 5:36,
breaking a modern franchise record set 15 years earlier.
"I don't usually think of those things,"
Kovalev said. "Maybe for you guys to remind (me) it makes me feel
better for the rest of the day. It's always nice to be part of
history."
Martin Straka and Antii Tormanen scored
10 seconds apart in the second period of a 4-2 win over Calgary at the
Ottawa Civic Centre on Oct. 19, 1995.
Gonchar, who became the sixth Russian
player to reach the 1,000-game milestone, assisted on Daniel
Alfredsson's goal during a two-man advantage late in the period.
"It's not about the point, it's mostly
about the win," Gonchar said. "We haven't played well lately and you
get a win and there's a great atmosphere in the locker room after the
game. That's more important than the point."
Kovalev also assisted on the goal for his third point of the night.
"It's always important to contribute, not
just to have 1,000 games, but to be a part of the 1,000th game,"
Kovalev said. "He was trying to score on that 5-on-3. He missed the net
a couple of times but we did pretty good for him. He got the point and
we won the game -- something to be remembered."
Chris Kelly also scored and Brian Elliott made 28 saves for Ottawa, which has won two of three since a 1-4-1 start.
Sami Lepisto and Keith Yandle scored for
Phoenix, which has lost three in a row (0-1-2), including the first two
games of a three-game trip.
Jason LaBarbera made 17 saves in the
first during his second start of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov, who made
26 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss in Montreal, replaced LaBarbera to
start the second. He stopped 14 shots in two periods.
Coyotes captain Shane Doan was back in
the lineup after serving a three-game suspension for his blindside hit
on Anaheim's Dan Sexton on Oct. 17.
"We put ourselves in the position where
we have to chase a game the whole night and gave them the opportunity
to feel good about themselves," Doan said.
Outshot 20-8 while falling behind 3-0 in the first, Phoenix held an 11-5 margin in shots in the second.
Lepisto scored his first of the season
4:15 into the middle period and Yandle drew the Coyotes within 3-2 with
his first goal at 6:58 of the third.
Kovalev restored Ottawa's two-goal lead 48 seconds later when he beat Bryzgalov.
Karlsson put Mike Fisher's rebound into the right side with Doan off for slashing. Kovalev then got his first of the season.
"Tonight it was really important to take
the lead," Kovalev said. "I'm glad we took that lead right from the
start and we got a quick couple of goals."
Nick Foligno, who assisted on Kovalev's
first goal, put a backhand off the left post midway through the first
before Kelly made it 3-0 with his second of the season at 14:45.
NOTES:
LaBarbera's only other appearance this season was a 32-save effort in a
3-2 loss in Anaheim on Oct. 17. ... Gonchar received his NHL milestone
award from Jim Gregory, the league's senior vice president of hockey
operations, in a pregame ceremony. The veteran Russian defenseman has
688 points, including 202 goals, with Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh
and Ottawa.
