Senators net late goal on Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Peter Regin picked a good time for his first NHL goal.

Regin, playing in his third game for Ottawa, scored the winning goal with 1:57 left as the Senators beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Thursday night.

Regin admitted that he misfired a bit on the shot, but was certainly pleased with the result.

"I tried to shoot it high, but missed and the puck went low," Regin said. "That's often how you score, you miss the puck a little."

Regin broke a 1-1 deadlock when he gained control of the puck on the left side, skated behind the Blues net and beat goalie Chris Mason with a wrist shot from the right circle.

"It's something I've dreamed about since I was a kid," said Regin, a native of Denmark. "A dream come true for me."

Mason would just have soon not have been a part of it.

"A heartbreaker. I think that was a team we could have beat there," Mason said. "We played a lot harder in the third period, but it stinks with the result. To let them score with two minutes left kind of leaves a mark."

Ottawa coach Craig Hartsburg probably will give Regin more chances to contribute.

"Peter showed speed, showed skill, and good poise with the puck," Hartsburg said.

Mike Fisher, who scored the other two Ottawa goals, added an empty-netter with 32.4 seconds remaining. Brian Elliott made 22 saves for the Senators.

"We played 60 minutes of real hardworking hockey," Hartsburg said. "It's what we've been asking for and we got it tonight."

Brad Winchester had the only goal for St. Louis.

"I didn't like what I saw," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "I thought for the significance of the game and having three days of practice, that our sense of urgency and intensity was not at a level we needed."

Ottawa struck first while short-handed when Blues forward David Perron mishandled the rebound of Fisher's shot in front of the St. Louis net. That allowed Fisher to get control of the puck again in the slot, and he beat Mason with a wrist shot 10:06 into the game.

The Blues had only one shot in the first 13 minutes, but tied it 1-1 on their second shot at 13:04 of the first period when Winchester deflected Jeff Woywitka's centering pass from the left wing past Elliott.