STOCKHOLM // Dany Heatley scored twice to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second and final game of their season-opening series on Sunday. The last two losing Stanley Cup finalists played back-to-back games in the Swedish capital as the NHL bids to reach a wider international audience. Earlier, the New York Rangers beat Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Prague.
Coming off a 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday, a much-improved Senators side took the lead when Heatley found the net 13 minutes into the second period, assisted by Jason Spezza and captain Daniel Alfredsson during a power-play. He then doubled the score 12-17 into the third period before teammate Antoine Vermette made it 3-0 three minutes later on a counter-attack. The Senators keeper Alex Auld, playing instead of Martin Gerber who had guarded the net on Saturday, had an inspiring night, almost accomplishing a shut-out only for Alex Goligorski to grab a consolation goal with just two seconds remaining at the end of the game.
Tempers flared near the end of the first period too when Alfredsson was harshly tackled by Penguins back Brooks Orpik, resulting in a brief fight involving most of the players on the ice which was quickly broken up by the referees. The weekend games in Europe follow a successful opening of the season in London last year. * Reuters