Senators Ice Penguins

The smile on Ottawa Senators goaltender Patrick Lalime said it all.

"I've been waiting for that game for the past two years," said Lalime, after stopping 22 shots in a 2-1 victory Thursday over his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammates.

"It was a bit of a personal victory.," LaLime added. "I was just happy to get out of there with the two points."

Although he finished that season with a 21-12-2 record, he did not return to the Penguins because of a contract dispute and spent the next two years in the minors.

"It was real nice for him to get that win," said Ottawa defenseman Jason York. "We did a good job of shutting down Jaromir Jagr."

Radek Bonk scored the winning goal at 12:02 of the third period.

"Jagr is a great player," said Bonk, who got his seventh goal of the season. "Every time you have a chance, you give him a little bump."

Shawn McEachern also scored for the Senators, who improved their home record to 6-1-1. Playing their second game in as many nights, the Senators (9-4-1-1) continued the best start of their eight-year modern history and drew within one point of Eastern Conference-leading Toronto, which was idle.

Robert Lang scored for Pittsburgh (2-6-3-1), which now is winless in seven games (0-5-2).

"It was a typical game against Ottawa where you have to fight for everything," said Penguins coach Kevin Constantine. "We could have won any one of the last seven games."

Jagr, the defending league scoring champion, climbed back into a share of the scoring lead with San Jose's Owen Nolan when he assisted on Lang's second-period goal for his 23rd point, including 10 goals. Jagr is the league's only player to earn at least a point in every game this season.

"We don't have enough confidence to score," said Jagr, who has scored or assisted on Pittsburgh's last 15 goals over a seven-game span. "Right now, I feel like I'm playing not just for the team, but the owner (Mario Lemieux) as well."

McEachern opened the scoring on a power play 10:07 into the first period, tipping a Joe Juneau shot from the top of the right circle past goaltender Peter Skudra. It was McEachern's fourth goal of the season and his eighth point in six games, including four goals.

Lang responded at 13:03 of the second period, with the Penguins enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage. Lang, standing at the side of the net, tapped a pass from Rob Brown past Lalime for his seventh goal of the season.

Bonk scored the winner when Magnus Arvedson threw the puck from behind the net in front to Bonk and the Senators' leading scorer one-timed the puck past Skudra to decide the outcome.

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