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Friday, November 26, 1999
Sens put bite on skid
Second-period spree allows Ottawa to gobble up Thrashers
ATLANTA -- For 20 minutes last night, the Senators served up a Thanksgiving Day turkey.
Then they cooked the Atlanta Thrashers.
The Senators spotted the expansion Thrashers a three-goal first-period lead on the U.S. holiday, but spoiled the party -- and ended a three-game losing skid in the process -- with a 6-3 win at Philips Arena.
"I didn't give them (crap) after the first period. I just went in and told them to remain calm," said a relieved Ottawa coach Jacques Martin. "To me, we had panic in our eyes in the second half of the first period and we had to stop panicking.
"I just told the guys to get back to the game plan because we were trying to do things as individuals and they were taking advantage of the few chances we were giving them."
Playing a little Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the Thrashers, the Senators responded to a switch from starting goalie Ron Tugnutt to Patrick Lalime by blasting home five goals in the second period.
SPARKS RALLY
Underachieving centre Vaclav Prospal finally got on track, scoring twice and setting up another by Magnus Arvedson to help lead a comeback of monumental proportions.
Playing on a new line with veterans Shawn McEachern and Joe Juneau, Prospal helped lead the charge with his third and fourth goals of the season as the unit combined for seven points.
But they weren't alone. The Senators made life tough for minor-league callup Scott Langkow by scoring five goals on 12 shots in the second period.
Arvedson had a goal and two assists, and Wade Redden and tough guy Andre Roy also contributed on a night it seemed the Senators would be in for a long ride to Pittsburgh, where they face the Penguins tonight.
"That first period, we just weren't awake," said Arvedson. "We didn't come out prepared and it really hurt us. We just tried to stay positive between periods and we realized we just had to play better to win."
Martin had talked to the players about focusing on their own game to get out of their goal-scoring slump, but it looked like the message had fallen on deaf ears.
The Senators were back on their heels, the defencemen were sloppy in their own end and Tugnutt allowed Kelly Buchberger to score a soft goal on the first shot. He was pulled after allowing three goals on six first-period shots.
The smiles on the Atlanta bench stretched from ear-to-ear, but weren't in place for long.
"That's a tough situation to come into, but when you're down 3-0, you know that you've got nothing to lose," said Lalime. "We really started to play our game in the second and that was too much for them."
The Senators had lost four of their last six games. But scoring five goals or more for the third time in their 22 games this season was exactly what Ottawa players needed to boost their confidence around the net.
"We needed everybody to make this comeback," said McEachern.
Which is usually also a necessity to accomplish one other goal -- breaking a slump.
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