Senators defeat Capitals for second straight win

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators ended the calendar year and started the second half of their schedule in unfamiliar fashion Monday.

They manufactured a winning streak.

Ottawa's 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Monday night at Canadian Tire Centre marked the first time the Senators put together back-to-back wins since they claimed three in a row from Nov. 5-9.

They have also now come out on top in three of their last four, giving themselves hope for a brighter 2014.

"We've talked about it a lot, but I've thought the way we've played lately has been very encouraging," said coach Paul MacLean. "Tonight obviously could be a big turning point for us. But again we have to come here tomorrow and forget about today, get ourselves ready to work again. The priority for us is to get rid of this one, let's come back tomorrow and get some work done."

Center Kyle Turris scored the game-winner in the second period, and center Mika Zibanejad and winger Clarke MacArthur had the other Ottawa goals. MacArthur's was an empty-netter, ending his goal-less drought at 10 games.

Winger Joel Ward had the lone Washington tally.

Senators goalie Craig Anderson allowed the game's first goal but then shut the door the rest of the way, stopping 34 shots. His best of the night was a glove save he made off winger Eric Fehr with just over two minutes left in the game.

"He played a great game," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said of Anderson. "We caught him on a hot night. It would have been nice to maybe get him on one of the off ones."

Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves.

While the Ottawa power play was 0-for-3, the Senators survived both of their short-handed situations against the league's top-ranked power play. Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin clearly thought his team should have been presented more man-advantage opportunities, as he blasted officials after the game for permitting Senators winger Chris Neil to get away with a cheap shot on him early in the game.

"To be honest with you, I think tonight both teams played well but four guys didn't do their job," said Ovechkin, who was held off the scoresheet despite firing seven shots on goal. "They started to celebrate new years too early, the night before the game. They didn't see head shots (by) Neil against me. It was kind of embarrassing to see."

Turris broke a 1-1 tie early with the only goal of the middle period, taking a pass from winger Bobby Ryan, then splitting the Capitals defense before putting a deke on Grubauer. It was his 10th goal of the season.

"It was a beautiful pass by Bobby, a backhand saucer pass right on my tape," Turris said of the highlight-reel effort. "I don't care how it goes in. Getting a goal to help the team feels really good."

The Capitals opened the scoring 2:11 into the game when Ward took a backhand from the slot that hit the knob on Anderson's stick, changing the direction of a shot that appeared to be going wide. The goal was Ward's 12th of the season, but just his third in the last 21 games.

Alzner said the fact that the Capitals were playing their second game in 24 hours was not a factor in the loss.

"The game yesterday was one we thought we should have won and didn't," he said of a 2-1 shootout loss in Buffalo. "I thought we were pretty hungry today. We played a good game. We don't typically play that well here. It was nice to see that we worked hard for a full 60."

The Senators answered the Ward goal when Zibanejad scored off a nice setup by winger Cory Conacher at 13:49 of the first.

"I think our penalty killing and our goaltending were a big part of the game," said MacLean, "but I also thought our team play throughout our lineup was very good."

The Senators (17-18-7) play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Capitals (20-15-5) return home to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

NOTES: After scoring eight goals in his first 19 games, Senators C Mika Zibanejad entered Monday in a 12-game slump. He ended it in the first period, which was his fourth period as the replacement on a top line for injured C Jason Spezza. ... The Senators lost RW Chris Neil when he suffered a lower-body injury trying to hit Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin early in the first. Without Neil, the Senators were minus their three letter-wearers. Spezza, the captain, and D Chris Phillips both missed their second game in a row with injuries. After the game, coach Paul MacLean said it looks like Neil's injury could keep him out for awhile. ... Ovechkin remains one assist shy of passing Dale Hunter for third place on the franchise list, but getting there might take him awhile. Along with his 30 goals, he has only 11 helpers. ... Ovechkin scored 62 goals in the first 364 days of the 2013 calendar year. ... Capitals D John Carlson led the team in ice time for the 19th time in 21 games.