MONTREAL // Dany Heatley scored twice in 38 seconds to rally the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the depleted Montreal Canadiens. The loss left the Canadiens (41-28-10), who were playing without their injured defencemen Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider, in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They are a point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (42-28-9) with three games left to play in the regular season.
The Canadiens can earn a play-off spot with a win at the New York Rangers (40-30-9). They lead the Rangers and the Florida Panthers (39-29-11) by three points, while Ottawa have been eliminated from the play-off race. Chris Campoli opened the scoring for Ottawa on a second-period power play before Alexei Kovalev and Mathieu Dandenault gave Montreal a 2-1 lead. Heatley levelled the score at 11:23 into the third period, then delivered the winner seconds later with his 37th goal of the season.
"I think we showed a lot coming back," Heatley said. "We had some chances all through the game and capitalised on a couple." Heatley's first goal came on a scramble around the Montreal goal. He fired the second past the Canadiens netminder Jaroslav Halak after a turnover. "I'd like to see that one come back and I'm sure Halak feels the same way," the Montreal coach and general manager Bob Gainey said. "It went in under [Halak's] arm but Heatley's a guy who scores 40 goals every year."
Halak, who has been playing while starter Carey Price recovers from a virus, made 20 saves. Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames moved two points clear in the race for first place in the Northwest Division with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Jarome Iginla had a goal and an assist while Daymond Langkow, David Moss and Jim Vandermeer also scored, the latter netting his first goal in 75 games.
Wayne Simmonds netted the only goal for the Kings. Chris Osgood tied Dominik Hasek for 10th on the NHL career wins list after helping the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Marian Hossa scored twice to reach the 40-goal plateau for the third time, while Brad Stuart and Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for the Red Wings. * Reuters