Ottawa

The Boston Bruins moved past Buffalo and Montreal in the fight for home-ice advantage in the playoffs, but that will mean little if they continue playing as they did against Ottawa. The Bruins blew an early three-goal lead and had to rally in the third period for a 5-4 win over the visiting Senators, the league's worst team. After scoring on three of their first four shots, the Bruins allowed four straight goals to the league's lowest-scoring team. "We got a little too excited there," Bruins winger Brent Hughes said.

DAVID KREJCI scored the shootout winner and had an assist in regulation as the Boston Bruins defeated the Senators, 3-2, on Monday night in Ottawa. Tuuka Rask made 30 saves in regulation and stopped three of four Senators in the shootout, including a bizarre attempt from Kaspars Daugavins. The Ottawa forward carried the puck by pressing down with the tip of his stick before attempting a failed 360 move in front of Rask. Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille scored for Boston, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win its 10th straight in Ottawa.

OTTAWA - The Flyers, with winger Jason Akeson scoring an early goal in his NHL debut and goalie Steve Mason giving another outstanding performance, ended their disappointing 23-22-3 season with a 2-1 win in Ottawa on Saturday night. The question is, was it also the end of the Peter Laviolette era? Probably not. General manager Paul Holmgren would not say definitively, but he again hinted strongly that the coach will return. Holmgren apparently wants to wait until after having season-ending interviews with his players in the next few days before making a decision on Laviolette, who has two years left on his contract.

Ottawa scored both of its runs in the eighth inning yesterday and defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, 2-1, in an International League game. Sergio Valdez earned the win for Ottawa. Toby Borland took the loss for the Red Barons. ALBANY 9, READING 3 ALBANY, N.Y. - A bases-loaded triple by Albany shortstop Robert Eenhorn was the big hit in an eight-run second inning as the Yankees defeated the Reading Phillies in an Eastern League game. In that second inning, Albany sent 13 batters to the plate.

Andrew Brunette is so hot, he's scoring goals with his hip. With a few lucky bounces and some strong goaltending, the Washington Capitals ended a season-and-a-half of frustration against Ottawa last night, stopping a six-game losing streak against the visiting Senators with a 4-0 victory. "Hopefully, we got rid of the Ottawa jinx," said All-Star goalie Olaf Kolzig, who stopped 24 shots for his 20th victory - six more than he had in his entire five-year NHL career before this season.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pounded out 16 hits in a 13-4 International League win yesterday. A six-run Scranton sixth helped stop Ottawa's longest win streak of the year at five games. The outburst began as winning pitcher Robert Gaddy (5-7) doubled for his second hit of the game. The Barons improved to 31-50, still last in the East Division. HARRISBURG 10, READING 6 READING 3, HARRISBURG 2 READING, Pa. - Harrisburg ended Reading's season-high seven-game winning streak in the opener.

Guys like Vinny Prospal used to be what the Flyers were about. Yes, Prospal is slow and skinny-legged. He needed every bit of the four years the Flyers kept him in the minors. Even now, headed toward his 24th birthday in February, he can't say he's definitely made it in the NHL. Last night, Prospal had three assists, doubling his season point total, in a 5-4 Ottawa victory over the Flyers at the First Union Center. He scored a goal, as well, but saw that wiped out by video replay.

  Flyers Notes Sergei Bobrovsky is being a good soldier. After being the Flyers' primary goalie and having a very strong rookie season in 2010-11, Bobrovsky is now Ilya Bryzgalov 's understudy. There is a chance Bobrovsky will get his first start of the season Tuesday night in Ottawa. Coach Peter Laviolette , who used Bryzgalov in the first four games (3-0-1), said he wouldn't announce his decision until the morning skate. "I'm ready for every game," Bobrovsky said.

A four-run seventh inning by Ottawa broke a 2-2 tie last night as the Lynx defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 7-3, in the International League. Starter Tommy Greene, on a rehabilitation assignment from the Phillies for a right-shoulder injury, gave up three hits, one run, one walk and had six strikeouts in four innings. He did not figure in the decision for the Red Barons. Carlos Perez (5-2) got the win for Ottawa, while Paul Fletcher (3-9) took the loss for the Barons. Ted Wood hit his 10th homer of the season as part of Ottawa's seventh-inning rally.

The Ottawa Senators will attempt to pull off their second straight series upset starting Tuesday night when the NHL's conference semifinals get under way. Ottawa, seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference and coming off a five-game win over No. 2 Montreal, will play Game 1 at top-seeded Pittsburgh. The other Eastern Conference semifinal will pit the New York Rangers against the Boston Bruins after both advanced in Game 7s Monday night. In the Western Conference, defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles and surging San Jose will begin on Tuesday, while heavily favored Chicago and Detroit will start Wednesday.

Here is a look at the NHL playoffs that begin on Tuesday. Eastern Conference No. 8 seed N.Y. Islanders vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh Pity the Islanders. They get into the playoffs for the first time since the Kennedy administration - OK, it's only been six years - and they have to face an explosive Penguins team that outscored them, 16-5, in their last four meetings. The Penguins will use last year's first-round embarrassment to the Flyers as incentive. Pick: Penguins in five.

OTTAWA - The Flyers, with winger Jason Akeson scoring an early goal in his NHL debut and goalie Steve Mason giving another outstanding performance, ended their disappointing 23-22-3 season with a 2-1 win in Ottawa on Saturday night. The question is, was it also the end of the Peter Laviolette era? Probably not. General manager Paul Holmgren would not say definitively, but he again hinted strongly that the coach will return. Holmgren apparently wants to wait until after having season-ending interviews with his players in the next few days before making a decision on Laviolette, who has two years left on his contract.

JORDIN TOOTOO netted the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Johan Franzen scored on a power play with 6:26 left, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win last night over the visiting Los Angeles Kings and into eighth place in the Western Conference. Detroit is one point ahead of Columbus and one behind seventh-place Minnesota. All three teams have two games remaining. The Red Wings are aiming to extend their postseason streak to 22, the longest in North American professional sports.

Craig Anderson made 33 saves in his third shutout of the season, and the Senators sent the sliding Devils to their ninth straight loss with a 2-0 victory Friday. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Milan Michalek scored second-period goals for the Senators, who won for the second straight night, following a five-game skid, to boost their playoff chances. Ottawa, in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, leads ninth-place Winnipeg by four points. New Jersey is 10th, eight points behind Ottawa and four behind the Rangers and the postseason cutoff with seven games to play.

Josh Bailey scored twice, and the Islanders added another big win in their surge toward the playoffs by beating the host Bruins, 2-1, on Thursday night. The Islanders, seeking their first trip to the postseason in seven years, improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games. They started the day tied with Ottawa and the Rangers with 44 points. New York kept pace with Ottawa, which defeated the Flyers. The eighth-place Rangers were idle.   Battling homophobia The NHL and its players' union are partnering with an advocacy organization fighting homophobia in sports.

PASCAL DUPUIS scored twice and Evgeni Malkin had a goal in his return to the lineup, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night for their 14th straight win. Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby had two assists to push his league-best points total to 56 as the Penguins got within three victories of their own NHL record for consecutive wins. Malkin, back from an upper-body injury, got his first goal in 3 weeks.

THE SINGULAR, lonely point the Flyers earned in the standings Sunday night in Pittsburgh was gravy. Put aside, for one moment, the absurdity of that thought. Nevermind that the 13th-place Flyers clung to a 1-0 lead with 7 minutes left and managed to cough up the extra point in overtime. Take the emotion out of it. Forget that the Flyers had a very real chance to stifle an 11-game winning streak, the longest in the NHL this season, against a bitter rival. Remove the doubt and focus on the numbers.

Buddy Robinson called it "a dream come true. " Robinson, a Bellmawr resident and Gloucester Catholic graduate, has signed a three-year contract with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. Robinson, who recently finished his sophomore season with Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., said he would report to the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton, N.Y., on Wednesday. "It all happened pretty quick," said Robinson, 21. "They invited me up for a visit [to Ottawa]

Standings Teams are listed in order of playoff position. The first eight teams in each conference earn playoff berths, with the three division winners in each conference seeded first, second and third.   W   L   OL   Pts.   GIs   Op.    d-Pittsburgh 22   8   0   44   108   80    d-Montreal 19   5   4   42   90   70    d-Carolina 15   11   2   32   83   78    Boston 19   5   3   41   81   57    Ottawa 15   8   6   36   72   62    Toronto 15   12   2   32   86   83    d-Winnipeg 15   12   2   32   77   85    New Jersey 13   10   6   32   72   81    N.Y. Rangers 14   12   2   30   67   68    N.Y. Islanders 13   12   3   29   83   91    Tampa Bay 13   15   1   27   96   86    FLYERS 13   16   1   27   81   92    Washington 12   15   1   25   78   85    Buffalo 10   15   4   24   76   93    Florida 7   16   6   20   70   109      d-Chicago 24   2   3   51   100   62    d-Anaheim 20   3   4   44   90   66    d-Minnesota 15   10   2   32   70   68    St. Louis 16   10   2   34   85   80    Detroit 14   10   5   33   78   75   ...