Begrüßungen » excellent, efficient and confident

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators said they needed four points this weekend to make a serious playoff push. After an overtime loss Saturday in Montreal and a 3-1 defeat on home ice to the Colorado Avalanche, the Senators walked away from their weekend games with just one point. "It was a big weekend for us and we lose both games," said Senators captain Jason Spezza. "We played good but its a different way to lose every night and results are the only thing that matter right now. "We didnt turn the puck over much, we created a lot but again. It just wasnt enough to win the game and its unacceptable." Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell scored for the Avalanche (44-19-5) while Matt Duchene had two assists as Colorado picked its third win in four games, and seventh in its past nine. Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves. The Colorado goalie was just six seconds away from his second shutout of the season and 13th in his career until Mika Zibanejad scored at 19:54. Robin Lehner made 19 saves in his second straight start for the Senators (28-26-13) since Craig Anderson was injured last week in a loss to the Nashville Predators. "Response to the game (Saturday) was positive," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. "A lot of the statistical things were positive, but at the end of the day its the score that matters and we gave up three goals and only scored one. "We created opportunities to score but I dont think we got to their net as hard as we could have and we missed the net a number of times." Nursing a 1-0 lead heading into the third period, the Avalanche were awarded their first and only power play of the game when Ottawa forward Chris Neil closed his hand on the puck and was called for delay of game. Duchene took a shot during the man advantage that Lehner stopped but the rebound went right to Holden, who was alone at the side of the net and scored at 3:10. "The power play was sharp again, we had only one opportunity but scored a very important goal for us," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said before praising the play of his goaltender. "He was very solid and he made some very key saves. I thought we had too many turnovers in that second period. Our goalie was without a doubt the first star of the game." The Senators pressed throughout the period, but the game was virtually over when Mitchell beat Lehner from in tight with less than three minutes to go in the game. Following a scoreless opening period, Ottawa held a heavy edge in play over the second 20 minutes. Ottawa outshot the Avalanche 20-8 in the second period but it was former Senator Andre Benoit that scored the periods only goal and gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the process. The Avalanche broke out three-on-one late in the period and after receiving a drop pass from Patrick Bordeleau, Benoit moved into the slot and put a shot over the shoulder of Lehner. "Its always fun to score against an old team and I had lots of family and friends here. Hopefully they keep going in," said Benoit, who is from St. Albert, about 30 minutes from Ottawa. "It was a big game and we were able to get a win. We have to keep this going now." Benoit was a fan favourite in Ottawa despite playing just 41 games for the Senators over two seasons. He has played in 66 of Colorados 68 games this season and has nine goals in 107 career games. Four of those have come in his last nine games. Notes: Matt Kassian, Patrick Wiercioch and Craig Anderson were scratches Sunday for the Senators. Scratches for the Avalanche were P.A. Parenteau, Paul Stastny, Paul Carey, Ryan Wilson and Reto BerraaSenators defenceman Erik Karlsson played his 300th NHL game on Sunday. Forward Kyle Turris played in his 300th game Saturday in the Senators loss to MontrealaThe last time the Avalanche recorded 44 wins in a season was back in 2007-08aThe Avalanche are the only team in the NHL to sore at least one goal in every game this season. Diego Reyes Jersey . According to MMAFighting.com, MacDonald needs an x-ray on his right ankle and doctors clearance to fight or he will be subject to a mandatory medical suspension that will end on August 22, 2014. Miguel Layun Mexico Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.nationalsoccermexico.com/hector-moreno-mexico-jersey/ . But Paul Osbaldiston, Hamiltons assistant special teams and kicking coach, said the team still relished the championship game workout. Hugo Ayala Jersey . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada. Giovani dos Santos Mexico Jersey . The 42-ranked Czech saved seven break points while converting his one chance, and defeated the No. 3 seed in 1 hour 46 minutes. Rosol, who lost in the final in Stuttgart against Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday, awaits the winner between Philipp Kohlschreiber or 2011 champion Gilles Simon.Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks (4) – Crawfords third period save on Zach Parise is exactly what he is all about, timely save to preserve the lead. His positioning has been excellent, efficient and confident. Hes not chasing the puck, not opening up and he just makes it look easy when hes feeling it. His biggest strength comes in his ability to read plays. Ilya Bryzgalov, Minnesota Wild (3) – Bryzgalov didnt receive help on any of the three goals he gave up. Jonathon Toews goal is a prime example of that; great save on Hossa, only to have Toewws jam in rebound.dddddddddddd Bryzgalov made some real good saves on Hossa, Bickell and Saad to give his team a chance today, however Minnesota was simply not very sharp. Marc-Andre Fleury (5) – Fleury made good saves early on the penalty kill on Pouliot, Moore, and overall, made great scramble plays in the crease all night long. He was very strong handling the puck tonight with both his decision making and exchanges with D-men tonight. Henrik Lundqvist (4) – Lundqvist made big saves on Kunitz, Sutter, Crosby, Bennett and Sutter tonight and had no chance on the goals against. He was the only reason this was two-goal game (outside the empty-netter). He made great reaction plays and fought through crease battles as he was under siege all night long. ' ' '