OTTAWA – Andrej Meszaros, Chris Kelly and Chris Neil scored first-period goals and Ray Emery made 42 saves, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.

Meszaros and Kelly scored 1:08 apart before seven minutes elapsed. Neil made it 3-0 with his sixth goal on a power play at 14:06.

Daniel Alfredsson and Peter Schaefer also scored for Ottawa, which won consecutive games for just the second time this season.

The Senators, who led the Eastern Conference last season with 113 points, are 4-6 at home this season, and 9-11-1 overall.

Pascal Dupuis scored a power-play goal midway through the second period, and Brian Rolston scored his second penalty-shot goal of the season in the final frame for Minnesota.

Mikko Koivu scored a short-handed goal with 13 seconds remaining to cut the Wild’s deficit to 5-3.

The Wild have lost seven of 10 since a 9-1 start.

Emery, who made 16 saves in the second when Ottawa was outshot 17-7, caught a break early in the third on Koivu’s slap shot from just inside the blue line. The Senators goalie got his glove on the puck, which was headed over the net but instead struck the crossbar.

Rolston was awarded a penalty shot when Ottawa’s Mike Fisher closed his hand on the puck in the crease

The Senators have scored three power-play goals in two games after netting two through their first eight home contests.

Schaefer had a goal and an assist, and Mike Fisher and Tom Preissing each had two assists.

Antoine Vermette extended his point streak to five games with an assist on Alfredsson’s goal, and 12 players recorded points on Ottawa’s first four goals.

Fisher and Patrick Eaves combined to set up the Senators’ first goal by Meszaros, who beat Manny Fernandez with a shot from the right point 5:04 in.

Jason Spezza got his team-leading 25th point with an assist on Kelly’s goal at 6:12. Dany Heatley recorded his 24th point on the play as he fed a long pass to Kelly.

Neil scored on Ottawa’s first power-play opportunity against the Wild’s top-ranked penalty-killing unit.

Alfredsson made it 4-0 at 7:56 of the second.

Dupuis got his third goal – his second on the power play at 9:08 to draw Minnesota to within 4-1.

Schaefer scored with 1:29 remaining in the game to make it 5-2.

Notes: Rolston beat Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo with a slap shot on his other penalty shot attempt on Nov. 2. The Wild captain is 2-for-4 in shootout attempts this season, and 5-for-11 overall. … Ottawa had a season-high, three-game winning streak from Oct. 21-26. … Heatley remained in the game after he crashed headfirst into the crossbar early in the first. The Senators’ leading goal scorer lost control as he fell to his knees while Fernandez stopped him on a breakaway.

AP-ES-11-20-06 2225EST


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