NEW YORK (AP) -- Success is coming so easily to Marian Hossa that
he isn't concerned about when his paycheck will finally arrive.
Hossa scored twice, giving him six goals in three games, and
Magnus Arvedson snapped a third-period tie as the Ottawa Senators
beat the New York Rangers 5-2 Monday night.
The only place things aren't going well for the Senators is in
the bank, where the team was unable to meet payroll last week after
a financing plan fell through.
But Hossa, with 27 goals, brought the NHL's top team into a 1-1
tie in the first period and then stretched Ottawa's lead to 4-2 at
5:25 of the third. Hossa is just one goal behind Vancouver's Markus
Naslund for the league lead.
''Everybody seems to be focused on the game. Nobody is focused
on the money issue which is really good,'' said Hossa, who scored
four of Ottawa's eight goals last Wednesday. ''We're going to get
our money back and everything is going to be fine.''
Arvedson's goal came just 2:37 into the final period to help the
Senators jump over Dallas atop the league standings with 56 points.
''So far we're pretty happy with what we've accomplished. But
it's still early,'' Hossa said. ''It's a long way until the end of
the year so we have to make sure we keep going.''
Todd White also scored, and Petr Schastlivy added a power-play
goal for Ottawa, 12-2-1-1 in its past 16 games.
Again the Senators looked every bit like a focused team despite
waiting for paychecks that weren't delivered Jan. 1. A finance
plan is expected to be in place this week that will help the club
meet its obligations, commissioner Gary Bettman said last Friday.
Ottawa improved to 2-0-0-1 in the new year, thanks to a power
play that connected on both chances in the third period.
Arvedson's go-ahead goal and Hossa's second were the products of
hard work and a little luck -- both characteristics of winning
clubs.
Arvedson beat New York's Eric Lindros to a rebound to score a
power-play goal just before Hossa sent a shot toward the Rangers
net that hit the right skate of goalie Mike Dunham and redirected
in.
''When everything is going your way, you can score from
anywhere,'' Hossa said.
Mark Messier and Bobby Holik had goals for the Rangers, the last-place team in the Atlantic Division who trail Ottawa by 19 points
despite a payroll that exceeds the Senators' by more than $40 million.
''It seems like we wanted it a little more,'' Hossa said. ''We
had more chances and we had lots of power plays.''
Messier gave New York a 1-0 lead 6:20 in with his 13th goal and
New York's ninth on the power play in eight games.
''We have pride. We know what to do,'' Holik said. ''Nobody
should feel down because there's nothing else you can control
except the next game.''
Hossa tied it 3:01 later by wristing a shot in off the right
post. White gave Ottawa a 2-1 advantage at 4:54 of the second when
Schastlivy fended off Messier with one hand and got the puck to
White with just one hand on his stick. White scored his 15th goal
this season.
''I thought we had a good second period, and we played really
well in the third,'' said Ottawa's second-leading scorer Daniel
Alfredsson. ''Hossa scored one of those nice goals, and the power
play was good as well, which is nice.''
The Rangers tied it with just 1:28 left in the second as Holik
drove to the net, after Matthew Barnaby's rebound, and had the puck
go in the net off his skate.
''It was 2-2 at the beginning of the third and we gave them a
rebound power-play goal,'' said Dunham, who made 31 saves. ''It
just kind of fell apart from there.''
Patrick Lalime faced only 19 shots in earning his 18th victory.
Game notes
Bettman sat in the stands with players' union president Bob
Goodenow. Players and owners have not yet begun negotiations on a
new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires
following next season. ... Lindros, who assisted on both New York
goals, played in his 600th NHL game. Messier, second on the career
list with 1,643 games, is third on the NHL points list with 1,824
(671 goals, 1,153 assists). ... Ottawa defenseman Zdeno Chara had two
assists. ... White, who assisted on Schastlivy's goal, was the NHL
player of the month for December after he recorded 18 points in 15
games. ... New York left wings Ronald Petrovicky (ankle sprain) and
Gordie Dwyer (hamstring strain) left the game in the second period.