I went to my first hockey game in years tonight (I know, I'm a
bad Canadian); Ottawa kicked Atlanta's butt 8-1. It was really
cool, especially the free box seats we had at center ice.

Photos: http://impressive.net/people/gerald/2001/03/14/sens.html

Here's a game recap (sending it here so I can make a link to it,
cuz Yahoo will probably break the link later):

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recaps/20010314/atlott.html

> Ottawa 8, Atlanta 1
>
> OTTAWA (TICKER) -- Two straight third-period collapses were
> enough for the Ottawa Senators, who gave themselves plenty of
> room for error against the Atlanta Thrashers.
>
> Rookie Martin Havlat recorded his first career hat trick, scoring
> two of Ottawa's record-tying four power-play goals as the
> Senators coasted to a 8-1 victory.
>
> Ottawa exploited the league's worst penalty-killing unit by going
> 4-for-5 with the man advantage. It also killed all five Atlanta
> power plays.
>
> The Senators have recorded seven power-play goals in their last
> three games, going 3-of-6 in Sunday's loss to Washington.
>
> The Senators chased goaltender Norm Maracle early as Shawn
> McEachern, Havlat and Radek Bonk tallied in the first 15 minutes
> to open a 3-0 lead.
>
> "It was a great effort by the team," said newcomer Mike
> Sillinger, who assisted on Havlat's third goal in the final
> period.
>
> Patrick Lalime made 29 saves for Ottawa. He lost his shutout bid
> when Hnat Domenichelli deflected Chris Tamer's slap shot from the
> left point 7:46 into the second for his career-high 12th goal.
>
> The Senators squandered third-period leads in their previous two
> games, losing to the New York Rangers and Washington. They
> dropped a 6-5 decision to the Capitals on Sunday after giving up
> four unanswered goals in the third period.
>
> But Ottawa took care of business on Wednesday, was in control
> throughout and remained tied with New Jersey for first overall in
> the Eastern Conference.
>
> "We strive to play for a Stanley Cup team," said defenseman
> Curtis Leschyshyn, who also was acquired by the Senators before
> Tuesday's trade deadline. "This team is geared for that. We want
> to get as far into the playoffs as possible."
>
> After allowing three goals on 13 shots, Maracle was replaced by
> Milan Hnilicka, who gave up five goals on 15 shots. Havlat
> restored Ottawa's three-goal lead with 2:27 left in the second
> period before the Senators exploded for four goals in the opening
> 12 minutes of the third.
>
> "I felt it was not a bad second period and we were able to
> compete a little, but later we got caught taking more bad
> penalties," Atlanta coach Curt Fraser said.  "The team has a long
> way to go."
>
> Daniel Alfredsson scored the Senators' fourth power-play goal
> 4:20 into the final period before Havlat completed his hat trick
> just over two minutes later.
>
> "I was very happy with my third goal," said Havlat, who came into
> the game with 14 this season. "I feel good right now and more
> comfortable."
>
> Andreas Dackell tallied at 7:28 before Sillinger completed the
> rout with 8:16 left.  Maracle returned after Sillinger's goal.
>
> "Curtis and I are glad we made it here on time," Sillinger said.
> "I hope we can bring some veteran leadership to this team."
>
> The Thrashers have allowed 14 goals in their last two trips to
> Ottawa. In the previous visit on October 21, they rallied from a
> 5-1 deficit to earn a 6-6 tie. But Atlanta fell to 0-7-1 all-time
> against the Senators.
>
> The Thrashers played their first game since dealing leading
> scorer Donald Audette to Buffalo.
>
> "It's difficult to lose a valuable player in Donald, who was
> having a great season," Atlanta defenseman Steve Staios said. "He
> created a lot of offense. It's an unfortunate part of the game,
> the business part, and no one really likes it. He definitely will
> be missed."
>
> updated at Wed Mar 14 21:13:05 2001 PT

--
Gerald Oskoboiny <[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/