BOSTON: The Boston Bruins played no part in a busy trade deadline day, saving their energy to register a fourth straight victory with a 4-0 home blanking of the fading Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

The Bruins came off a 4-0-1 road trip and handed the Senators their second shutout loss in successive nights, following their 5-0 defeat at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's just a matter of not disturbing too much," Bruins coach Claude Julien said of his team's staying quiet at the deadline.

"Right now I think we're happy with what we've got and all we can continue to do is grow as a team."

General manager Peter Chiarelli addressed the players in the locker room before the game, telling them he believed in the group that has been battling hard to solidify playoff position. Tuesday's win left the Bruins sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Goalie Tim Thomas stopped 22 shots and defenseman Zdeno Chara scored two goals to help Boston break a four-game home losing streak.

"It's good to get a shutout, but the important thing was the win," Thomas said after his second shutout of the season, and sixth of his NHL career. "Shutouts are kind of few and far between for me so it's kind of nice to get one."

The Senators have two wins in their last eight games, falling behind the New Jersey Devils into second place in the Eastern Conference.

Sergei Samsonov's second rebound goal of the game eluded Martin Brodeur at 1:36 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the visiting New Jersey Devils, ending their five-game winning streak.

Hours after acquiring star Marian Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers, the Pittsburgh Penguins got 50 saves from Ty Conklin to score a 4-2 road win over the New York Islanders and close to within one point of both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leads.

Chris Higgins, rumored on his way out of Montreal at the deadline, scored two goals and had an assist as the Canadiens scored four times in the third period to beat the visiting Atlanta Thrashers 5-1.

Agencies

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page24)