Gagne Slaps Home Game Winner

It took the longest shot of Simon Gagne`s career for the Philadelphia Flyers to beat the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators Saturday.

Gagne`s shot came as he was heading off the ice. The puck bounced off the outstretched glove of Ottawa goaltender Patrick Lalime, and gave the Flyers their second straight victory.

"I was in the zone for about a minute and a half and I was so tired," Gagne said. "I saw the two defensemen back off and I just tried to put the puck on goal and walk to the bench. Then I heard all the people so happy and I was surprised.

"A shot that long never happened anywhere to me before. It`s not the type of goal you expect. It was funny. Sometimes people should just try to shoot at the net because you never know what will happen."

"It was just one of those things," Lalime said. "I usually let those shots go. But I was going to play the puck, so I may have hurried a bit too much. It just went off the tip of my glove and in. It was probably a bit too high and bad judgment. Those are the ones you`d like to have back."

Ottawa coach Jacques Martin didn`t fault his goaltender. "Patrick has played and won some strong games for us," Martin said.

Ruslan Fedotenko, Kevin Stevens and Dan McGillis also scored for Philadelphia.

Magnus Arvedson, Wade Redden and Marian Hossa scored for the Senators, who lost two straight games for the first time this season. Ottawa`s 2-1 loss at Boston Thursday snapped its four-game unbeaten streak.

A possible game-tying goal by Ottawa`s Rob Zamuner with 3:42 left in the third period was waived off by the officials who ruled it came after a whistle.

Philadelphia coach Craig Ramsay called this a "huge win" for the Flyers, who lost at Ottawa 6-1 in their only other meeting this season.

Fedotenko put the Flyers ahead at 15:41 of the first period when he redirected Rick Tocchet`s cross-ice pass into the net. Ottawa tied it 1-1 at 1:42 of the second when Arvedson tipped Karel Rachunek`s slap shot from just inside the blue line over the shoulder of Flyers goaltender Roman Cechmanek.

Arvedson`s goal snapped Cechmanek`s home shutout string at 144:20. The first-year goalie had blanked Buffalo and Edmonton in his previous two starts for his first NHL victories.

The Flyers went ahead at 3:30 of the second period on Stevens` goal. Redden tied it at 2-2 for the Senators at 14:40 with a long slap shot from just inside the blue line.

McGillis scored 2:06 later on a slap shot from the blue line that bounced off Ottawa defenseman Shane Hnidy. Hossa`s wrist shot from inside the left circle pulled the Senators even again with 1:40 left in the second.

Game notes
Stevens` goal was his first in 33 games dating back to Nov. 24, 1999, when he scored for the New York Rangers against Tampa Bay. ... Ottawa center Martin Havlat, who entered the game as the leading rookie scorer in the NHL with 13 points, had his seven-game point streak ended. It was the longest scoring streak in the league this season. ... The Senators, who outshot the Flyers 31-18, were held to a season-low three attempts in the first period, but had 17 shots, one off their season high, in the second. ... Hossa leads Ottawa in scoring with 22 points. ... Gagne has scored in three straight games. ... The Flyers snapped a seven-game winless streak against Ottawa (0-5-2). (Courtesy Asociated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2000.)

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Author: AP