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  Thursday, Dec. 23 7:00pm ET
Loss puts damper on Coffey milestone
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- Paul Coffey's 1,500th point, a first for an NHL defenseman, wasn't enough to get a win for the Carolina Hurricanes a win.

Joe Juneau scored the go-ahead goal in Ottawa's come-from-behind 4-3 victory Thursday night.

"We had a strong third period," said Senators coach Jacques Martin, whose team is on a 3-1-3 roll. "The last seven games we've played pretty well, only one loss, but we have to keep getting better."

Janne Laukkanen, Magnus Arvedson and Vaclav Prospal also scored for the Senators.

Juneau, who also had an assist, broke a 3-3 tie at 12:11 of the third period to spoil Coffey's milestone night. Coffey got the assist on Sami Kapanen's second-period goal.

"It's nice to get it over with," said Coffey, who has 1,112 career assists, second only to Wayne Gretzky's 1,963.

"It was inevitable I was going to get it," Coffey said. "To get 1,500 points, a lot of things have to happen. One is longevity, you have to be a half-decent player and play with some great players. I've had a chance to play with Wayne and Mark (Messier) and Jari (Kurri) and those guys in Edmonton."

With Carolina on a 4-on-3 power play, Kapanen one-timed Coffey's pass from the right point over Ron Tugnutt's shoulder to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead. Coffey in sixth on the career points list, behind Phil Esposito's 1,590.

"That's pretty awesome," Kapanen said. "I'm extremely happy I was the guy who scored the goal he got the point on."

Andrei Kovalenko and Marek Malik also scored for Carolina, which lost its third straight and is 1-5-0 in its last six. Gary Roberts had two assists.

Tugnutt made 25 saves for his 10th win of the season, while Eric Fichaud made 31 saves for Carolina.

Prospal tied the game 3-3 on a power play at 5:05 of the third when he deflected Traverse's pass past Fichaud.

"It was the first time I've scored at home since training camp," Prospal said. "I told my wife it would be a nice present if I could get one and I got the tying goal."

Kovalenko opened the scoring 42 seconds into the game when he picked up the rebound of Glen Wesley's point shot and flipped the puck over a fallen Tugnutt. Laukkanen tied the game at 4:29 with his first of the season.

Malik gave Carolina a 2-1 lead at 12:31 of the second, but Arvedson tied it at 12:55 on a bad-angle shot through Fichaud's pads.

Fichaud made his first start since Dec. 4. Arturs Irbe had started seven in a row for the Hurricanes.

"We've been struggling the past couple of games and we came out strong tonight," Fichaud said.

 


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Boston 3

Ottawa 4
Carolina 3

Buffalo 2
Colorado 1

NY Islanders 4
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 Paul Coffey records 1,500 career points.
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