Senators, Penguins Tie 2-2

At the Olympic break, the Ottawa Senators are just where they want to be.

"The break is going to be good," Senators coach Jacques Martin said after the Senators tied the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-2 Saturday night. "There have been a lot of games. We're .500 since the all-star break. We're still in good shape."

Ottawa is tied with Buffalo for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 56 points, but the Sabres have three games in hand.

Andreas Dackell scored the tying goal for the Senators with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. Rob Brown had put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1 at 8:06 of the third.

Stu Barnes also scored for the Penguins. Wade Redden had the other Ottawa goal.

"Considering we've just played eight games in 12 nights and considering the distraction of the Olympics, we played pretty well," said Penguins coach Kevin Constantine, who has nine players participating in the Games.
"Both teams play good two-way hockey. You wouldn't anticipate these teams would give up a lot of goals."

The Penguins had shut out Ottawa in two previous meetings this season, with Barrasso stopping 70 consecutive shots before Redden's power-play goal at 11:53 of the first period.
The goal was Redden's fourth of the season and Ottawa's first power-play goal in 12 attempts. The Senators had gone 5-for-68 with the man advantage over the past 20 games.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring 4:35 into the game when Barnes tipped in a shot by Fredrik Olausson from the blue line.

Barrasso finished with 21 saves while Ottawa goaltender Damian Rhodes stopped 38 shots in his fourth consecutive start.

Penguins defenseman Kevin Hatcher, who assisted on the first goal of the game, said Barrasso has been the team's MVP this season.

"The guy has been so consistent," Hatcher said. "He has had a big workload.... They (Ottawa) are a patient team. It's important you stay just as patient. Most of the opportunities came on the power plays."

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