OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators were looking for a little red

[blueberryjerry]

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators were looking for a little redemption and Saturday night they were able to find it. . Coming off an embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Friday night the Senators made the most of the rematch as they defeated the Bruins 4-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre. "Any time you drop a game like that and you get a chance for redemption and you dont take advantage of that things can spiral from there," said Bobby Ryan. "Hopefully this is a building block." Ryan was the games hero as he broke a 3-3 tie late in the third to give Ottawa the 4-3 lead. "We had it in our mind-set all night long that we were going to come out with two points (Saturday)," said Ryan. Patrick Wiercioch, Cory Conacher and Zack Smith also scored for the Senators (16-18-7). Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots to earn the victory. Daniel Paille, Jarome Iginla and David Warsofsky scored for the Bruins (26-11-2). Tuukka Rask allowed three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Chad Johnson, who allowed one goal on 18 shots. Saturdays game marked the halfway mark of the season for the Senators, who continue to chase a playoff spot. Both teams were missing a number of key players, including their captains as Ottawa was without Jason Spezza and the Bruins were without Zdeno Chara. Both sat out with lower body injuries. The Senators got off to a strong start and managed to play well enough through 60 minutes to hold off the Bruins to the delight of the 20,500 on hand in Ottawa, but it didnt come easily. Smith was called for a faceoff violation with 1:51 remaining in regulation, leaving Ottawa shorthanded but with a 4-3 lead. Still, the Senators managed to hold off the hard-pressing Bruins and earn the win. "You never want to put your team in that position, but I had faith in the guys killing and obviously Anderson was playing very well," said Smith. "That was a tough one to take. Its not a call thats called consistently so I think someone has to get on the same page about that one. If theyre going to call it they have to call it all the time I think." Anderson was solid as the Senators held off the Bruins and when asked what it was like to face the onslaught he replied, "exhausting." "They had a 6-on-4 there and they were moving the puck pretty good and we got a couple of key blocks and that was the difference," said Anderson. "When youre out-manned like that anything can happen." Anderson admitted the team wasnt feeling very good after Fridays loss and says the fact they were able to rebound with a win shows a lot of character. "Its all about how you respond," said Anderson. "Its not about what happens to you its how you respond and I think we came out here and we responded in the right way. Now the key is we have to respond again going forward." Ryan scored the winner at 15:25 of the third after forcing a turnover at the Ottawa blue-line and breaking in alone, beating Johnson with a high backhand. Earlier, the Senators caught a break when what would have been Iginlas second of the night was reviewed and ruled to be kicked in, keeping the game tied 3-3. Iginla admitted he wasnt all that surprised that the goal was called back. "I didnt really expect it to be a goal," said Iginla. "I knew (the puck) was coming to my foot, but I was hoping it wasnt a kicking motion. At the same time I understand the call, but youre always hoping for the best for sure." Bruins coach Claude Julien said his team played well and probably deserved a better fate. "Our guys battled hard," said Julien. "It would have been nice to come out of here with at least a point. I thought we deserved that much with how hard we competed to get ourselves back in the game, but unfortunately that wasnt the case. " Ottawa opened the scoring at the seven-minute mark of the first as Wiercioch jumped into the play to grab a rebound and beat Rask through the legs. The Bruins tied the game on Pailles fourth of the season as he sidestepped Erik Karlsson along the sideboards and beat Anderson cleanly. Conacher made it 2-1 for the Senators when he tipped a Kyle Turris backhand. The Senators made it 3-1 just 29 seconds into the second on Smiths short-handed goal. It also marked the end of Rasks night. Anderson made a number of good saves through the second, but had no chance on Iginlas 12th of the season as he was left all alone at the side of the net for an easy tap in. Warsofsky, with his first in the NHL, tied it 3-3 at the six-minute mark of the third with a shot from the side boards. Notes: C Jason Spezza and D Chris Phillips missed the game with a lower body injury. In Spezza and Phillips absence Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson wore an A. D Eric Gryba was a healthy scratch for the Senators. a The Bruins announced D Dennis Seidenberg will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. D Zdeno Chara was a late scratch and is listed as day-to-day. The Bruins were also without C Carl Soderberg. D Zach Trotman was recalled on an emergency basis and made his NHL debut. . Mako Vunipola was promoted from the reserves, with Matt Mullan called up to the bench on Thursday. "It is important that Joe is with his partner at this exciting time," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. .5 million, two-year contract that runs through 2015. Venable, the son of former big leaguer Max Venable, will make $4. . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity.MINNEAPOLIS -- Every time the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied on Wednesday night, the Denver Nuggets were able make some baskets to cut short the comeback. Ty Lawson scored 23 points, reserve Nate Robinson added 15 and the Nuggets held off the Timberwolves 117-110. Kenneth Faried added 13 points and had three alley-oop dunks as Denver won for the seventh time in nine games after a horrible start to the season. "Were starting to get it. Were starting to build some momentum," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. Kevin Martin scored 29 for Minnesota and Ricky Rubio added 17 points and 10 assists. Nikola Pekovic had 21 points and Kevin Love finished with 19. Minnesotas bench was outscored 47-10 and was overmatched by Robinson and Denvers high-octane reserves. Eight different Nuggets players scored in double figures, including all five starters. "We just came in and allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do at the offensive end. We put up no resistance," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said as he got angry while at the postgame press conference podium. "Theres been all this talk about what kind of team we can be. I dont care about what people talk about or what it looks like on paper. Weve done nothing," Adelman added. "Right now, are you going to just give in?" Ignited by three 3-pointers from Robinson, the Nuggets built a 15-point lead early in the second quarter. Denver stayed hot and shot 63 per cent in the first half, taking a 64-55 lead into the locker room. "Nate came it and gave us a huge lift in the first half," Lawson said. "Thats what we need sometimes. Someone to just come in and take the game over." The Wolves hung around by hitting free throws -- Martin finished 11 of 11 from the line -- and cut Denvers lead to three after Loves dunk with 3:41 to play in the third. After Denver built its lead bacck up to 11 in the fourth, Love made a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run and pull the Wolves to within one with 3:58 to play. . . But Minnesota couldnt come up with a defensive stop to finish the rally and allowed Denver to regain control after three straight dunks. The Wolves wouldnt go away, though, and pulled within three after a dunk by Corey Brewer with 1:13 to play. Love missed a 3 that would have tied it on Minnesotas next possession and Lawson swished four free throws in the final minute to beat the Wolves back one last time. Every time the Wolves started coming back, the Nuggets were able to get a couple baskets and halt Minnesotas momentum. "We just need to play ... defence," Love said. Rubio didnt use the same salty language as Love, but he was just as upset about his teams defensive effort. "We havent done anything in this league. This team has the potential to do something, but we just have to commit to be a team on defence." Several Nuggets players said after the game that they knew they could score against Minnesota. Just two weeks ago, Denver also scored 117 in a win over the Wolves. "Theyre more of an offensive-minded team. We just wanted to come out and dominate them offensively," Faried said. "We attacked them. We knew they had slow feet." The Nuggets have won 23 of the teams last 27 meetings. Minnesota didnt have any fast-break points in the first half, but came up with 15 during its second-half comeback. Denver took advantage of Minnesotas 17 turnovers to score 25 points. The Nuggets also hit 8 of 16 3-point attempts. NOTES: Luc Mbah a Moute, acquired Tuesday for former No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams, dressed but did not play for Minnesota. ... Denvers 64 points were its second-highest first-half total this season. ... Denver has won 11 of the last 13 at Target Center. ' ' '

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