Senators Erupt Over Lightning

Magnus Arvedson's hat trick was not only a first for him, it was a first for the Corel Centre.

"That's unbelievable," said the Ottawa Senators left-winger after learning it was his team's first hat trick in three seasons on home ice. Arvedson also earned an assist as Ottawa scored a team-record eight consecutive goals in a 9-3 romp over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.

Arvedson's line, with center Radek Bonk and rookie Marian Hossa, was the only line circled on a chart in the Tampa Bay dressing room prior to the game, and that assessment proved prophetic. The line wound up with nine points

"We're playing really well together and it feels good," said Arvedson, who now has 17 goals this season and who couldn't remember the last time he scored three goals in a game

Senators captain Alexei Yashin tied his own single-season club goal-scoring record with his 34th and 35th goals of the season. Shawn McEachern, with a goal and two assists, Sami Salo, Janne Laukkanen and Hossa also struck for the winners, who rallied with five straight second-period goals.

Bonk and Andreas Dackell collected three assists each as Ottawa also tied its record for goals in a game set earlier this season.

Benoit Hogue, Mike Sillinger and Rob Zamuner countered for the Lightning.

The game pitted Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa (37-18-8) against last-place Tampa Bay (15-43-5).

But Tampa Bay was enjoying one of its best runs of the season, claiming three wins in its previous four games with surprise victories over Montreal (6-1), Colorado (2-1) and Philadelphia (4-1).

"In the first period, we played well," said Lightning coach Jacques Demers, whose club jumped to an early 2-0 lead. "After that, we were totally outplayed. Yashin took a lot of punishment and kept coming back. They move the puck as well as anyone in the league. "

"They handled themselves with lass. You're not going to out-muscle or outwork them. They have one of the best transition games in hockey and are one of the fastest teams we've played."

The Senators rebounded to extend a club record for consecutive home wins with seven and open up a four-point advantage on New Jersey on top of the Eastern Conference standings. They moved seven points ahead of second-place Toronto in the Northeast Division.

"We really wanted to win this game," said Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson. Four of his past five goals have been game-winners. "We sorted things out and scored two big goals on the power play."

Hogue beat Ottawa goaltender Damian Rhodes (18-11-3) from the slot with the first shot of game at 6:22 of the opening period. Sillinger struck 39 seconds later.

Then the Senators cut loose in the second period, outshooting the Lightning 20-6. McEachern fired a rebound past Tampa Bay goalkeeper Corey Schwab (6-17-1) at 2:58 for his 29th goal of the season, the highest single-season total of his eight-year NHL career.

Senators defenseman Salo, the league's rookie plus-minus leader, tied the score 2-2 at 7:26. Arvedson, with two goals, and Hossa struck in a 4:47 span late in the period.

Arvedson, Yashin and Laukkanen scored in the third period to put the game out of reach before Tampa Bay's Zamuner and Yashin traded goals to complete the scoring.

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