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Penguins battle back to stun Senators
2007-11-23
The Pittsburgh Penguins twice fought back from two goals down before Jarkko Ruutu scored the game winner in the shootout in a 6-5 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. The Penguins, in their first visit to Ottawa since being eliminated in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals last season, won for only the third time in their past eight games. Ottawa (16-4-1) still holds the overall NHL lead but the Senators have just one win in their last four games. "It seems like every time we lose a game people say it's the worst game we've played all year," Ottawa's Jason Spezza said. "I am sick of hearing that. We just lost. That's all there is to it." Spezza and Chris Phillips had scored to put Ottawa in front 2-0 in the first period but the Penguins then scored three goals to lead 3-2 by the eight minute mark of the second period. The Senators answered with goals by Spezza, Dany Heatley and Christoph Schubert to lead 5-3 early in the third before but Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar pulled the Penguins back on level terms. After Spezza and Erik Christensen scored in the shootout, neither team could find the net until Ruutu beat Martin Gerber in the fifth round to end the game. *The Nashville Predators rallied to beat the Western Conference leading Detroit Red Wings 3-2. Radek Bonk's power play goal early in the third period was the winner and Chris Mason made 28 saves. *The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 despite being out-shot 31-14. Nikolai Khabibulin made 30 saves to preserve Chicago's win. *The Colorado Avalanche won on the road for just the third time in 11 games with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Marek Svatos scored the game-winner in the second period and Paul Stastny added a pair of assists. (Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto, Editing by Alastair Himmer)
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