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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Any problems Vaclav Prospal has had off
the ice have not affected his play.
|  | | Ottawa goaltender Ron Tugnutt snares the puck as teammate Jason York comes in to help and Anaheim's Mike Leclerc, left, attempts to bat the puck. |
Prospal scored the go-ahead goal with 8:31 left as the Ottawa
Senators extended their road-unbeaten streak to five games
Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The Ottawa center, who has five goals and seven assists in his
last 10 games, was reprimanded by the league for directing a
derogatory slur for French-Canadian players toward Montreal's Patrice Brisebois on Dec. 29.
"I think what we've found out about Vinnie is that he's a guy
who plays better when he has a chip on his shoulder," Senators
goalie Ron Tugnutt said after earning his 15th career shutout.
"That seems to bring the best out of him."
Tugnutt and Guy Hebert, who shared goalie duties in Anaheim
during the Ducks' inaugural season of 1993-94, were in a scoreless
battle until Prospal got a pass from Daniel Alfredsson and beat
Hebert with a slap shot from the middle of the left circle for his
10th goal.
"Shawn McEachern intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, he
slid it to Alfie and he slipped between two guys," Prospal said.
"They kind of went to him and that left me open. Alfie put it on
my stick and I had some time to take the shot."
Marian Hossa, on his 21st birthday, added an empty-net goal with
a minute to play.
It was the seventh time this season that the Senators scored
fewer than three goals and won.
"Everyone knows the Ottawa Senators are not the kind of team
that is going to play a run-and-gun offense on the road," Prospal
said. "We knew they had a good goalie and a great first line, so
we just had to shut that line down and score some goals
ourselves."
Tugnutt, who earned the first-ever Ducks victory, stopped 32
shots for his fourth shutout this season. Hebert made 23 saves for
Anaheim, winless in its last seven games (0-5-2).
"We did a lot of good things as a team, and that's why it was
frustrating that we couldn't score," Teemu Selanne said. "It's
all about confidence. We're going through a tough time right now,
but we just have to stick together and stay positive."
Ottawa goalies have recorded five shutouts, one fewer than last season.
Anaheim's power play, which has gone from first in the league
last season to last this season, went 0-for-3 and is 1-for-33 in
eight games.
About three minutes into the game, Anaheim's Ted Donato found Paul Kariya all alone about 15 feet in front of the net with a pass
from the left boards, but Kariya fanned on the shot.
Kariya had a short-handed chance early in the third, but Tugnutt got
his blocking pad on a rising slap shot from the top of the left
circle to deny him.
Tugnutt's closest call came with 2½ minutes left in the
second when he stopped Selanne twice from the edge of the crease.
Selanne came close again with 12½ minutes left, when his
rising slap shot from 50 feet out between the circles glanced off
Tugnutt's mask.
"You've got to give those guys a lot of credit because they
play smart," Selanne said. "It doesn't matter if it's 0-0 or 3-0,
they still play the same system. And that's what makes them so
good."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Ottawa Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
Ottawa's Prospal escapes suspension for ethnic slur
RECAPS
Washington 5
Atlanta 2
Florida 4
NY Islanders 3
Chicago 3
Vancouver 2
Calgary 2
Dallas 1
Phoenix 3
Pittsburgh 1
Ottawa 2
Anaheim 0
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