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Posted: Thursday December 23, 1999 11:58 PM
KANATA, Ontario (Ticker) -- Joe Juneau scored the go-ahead goal with 7:49 remaining as the Ottawa Senators rallied for a 4-3 victory over the weary Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina, which lost at home on Wednesday to Detroit, carried a 3-2 lead into the third period. But the Hurricanes could not hold the lead as they were throughly outplayed over the final 20 minutes.
Vaclav Prospal scored on the power play at 5:05 to tie it, setting the stage for Juneau's heroics just over seven minutes later. Patrick Traverse unleashed a slap shot from the high slot that caromed off the end boards right to Juneau on the doorstep, where he put the puck past Eric Fichaud for his fifth goal.
Signed as a free agent earlier this season, Juneau has been coming on recently with 11 points in his last 13 games. He has 15 points in 24 games overall.
"I was very surprised that the puck came out to me that quickly," Juneau said. "Some nights you play hard and don't get any points, but lately I've been playing hard and seeing some results."
The Senators had a 15-6 edge in shots in the third period and did not allow any legitimate scoring chances after Juneau gave them the lead.
Janne Laukkanen and Magnus Arvedson also scored for Ottawa, which improved to 3-1-3 in its last seven games.
"The last seven or eight games, we've played well," Senators coach Jacques Martin said. "We've only lost once and picked up some points. It will make Christmas merrier."
Gary Roberts had a pair of assists for struggling Carolina, which has dropped six of its last seven contests. The Hurricanes are 1-6-2 in their last nine road games.
"We just haven't been getting the lucky breaks when you are winning," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "In my mind, the game could've gone either way. Our boys were tired tonight and it showed in the third."
Carolina grabbed the lead 42 seconds into the contest on Andrei Kovalenko's sixth goal. Laukkanen tied it just under four minutes later with his first goal since March 8.
The Hurricanes regained the lead at 12:31. Working a 3-on-2, Roberts dropped a pass for defenseman Marek Malik, who wristed a shot from the high slot over goaltender Ron Tugnutt's right shoulder for his second goal of the season and second in as many games.
It took the Senators only 24 seconds later to tie it on Arvedson's 11th goal.
With Jason York off for slashing at 15:08, the Hurricanes took the lead back on Kapanen's 14th goal. He took a pass from Paul Coffey above the right faceoff circle and one-timed a slapper past Tugnutt.
One of the most prolific defensemen of all-time, Coffey recorded his 1,500th career assist.
"It was a good feeling to get it out of the way," he said. "It's too bad it couldn't have come in a winning cause."
The Senators pulled into a 3-3 tie at 5:05 of the third on Prospal's power-play goal.
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