Toews delivers in OT

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Just another day's work for Jonathan Toews.

After collecting 2 assists to help the Blackhawks erase a 3-1 Ottawa Senators lead, Toews scored 2:08 into overtime Saturday night to give the Hawks a 4-3 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators.

Patrick Sharp took advantage of a turnover at the Ottawa blue line and fed a pass to Toews at the edge of the crease. Toews redirected the puck past Ray Emery for the game-winner.

"It was a quick turnover and I just tried to go hard to net and give Sharpie some time to shoot and get that D-man to back off. I just got my stick on the ice and gave him the option," Toews said.

Martin Lapointe, Brent Seabrook and Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks (17-15-2). Sharp had tied the game at 3-3 just 38 seconds into the third period, and he was also stopped on a second-period penalty shot just minutes after Seabrook made the score 3-2.

"I was looking to shoot, but the defenseman was standing in the shooting lane, so I know Toews goes to the net all the time and I just zipped it to him as hard as I could," Sharp said.

It worked and the Blackhawks are now owners of 2 straight wins.

Dany Heatley had a pair of goals for the Senators -- and at least a half-dozen solid opportunities for the hat trick -- but he was, as were his teammates, turned aside by Nikolai Khabibulin for the game's final 39 minutes.

Dean McAmmond gave the Senators a 1-0 lead early in the first period, and the hosts had a 3-1 lead just three minutes into the second period. Khabibulin finished with 26 saves, including 1 off Mike Fisher on a breakaway when the score was 3-1.

"It goes to show how a guy can turn the momentum, and (Khabibulin) did that for us," Toews said. "We're not happy about the good chances we gave them. They're snipers and it could have been way different, but he stood on his head and gave us to a chance as he has in every single game that we've won. It was a big win for us as a team, but we owe a lot to our netminder."

You won't get any arguments from the Senators on that point. Captain Daniel Alfredsson had a game-high 7 shots on the Hawks' goalie and came away empty. He also had a 10-game point streak snapped in the process.

"We definitely should have won this one. Khabibulin played unbelievable and he's the reason they had a chance to win," Alfredsson said.

"We had some good clear-cut chances. The puck was dangling on the goal line a couple of times and he made some good saves. That was the difference."

Martin Havlat made his return to Ottawa for the first time since being traded in July 2005, but his night was short-lived as he left with a groin injury early in the second period.

The Blackhawks had 29 shots on Emery and scored twice on 5 power-play opportunities. The Senators were 0-5 with the man advantage, and the Blackhawks have killed 63 of 68 power plays on the road this season.

With 4 wins already this season over the league-leading Detroit Red Wings, the Blackhawks now have bragging rights over the two conference leaders.

"We showed a lot of character, and even though we were down 3-1, guys kept believing in themselves and it was a great win," said Lapointe, who scored seven minutes into the first period to tie it at 1-1.

"Against big teams, top-echelon teams, we seem to rise to the challenge. Those are great character-building games and we've been doing that throughout the season. We just have to build from that and get ready for tomorrow because we need those 2 points if we want to keep climbing in the Western Conference."

The Blackhawks return to action tonight when they host the Edmonton Oilers at the United Center in their final game before Christmas.