WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chris Phillips was eager to get on the

scoreboard, and his timing was just right for the Ottawa Senators.

With Ottawa's leading scorer sidelined, Phillips scored his

first goal of the season in the first period, sparking the

Senators' 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday

night.

"It's huge," Phillips said. "Obviously, I'm the last guy with

the big goose egg, and it seemed like it was getting talked about

more and more. ... It's nice to not have a zero sitting there."

Patrick Eaves added a goal in the second period and Peter

Schaefer sealed the win with an empty-net score with 22 seconds

left to help the Senators (28-7-1-2) improve their NHL-best point

total to 59.

Matt Pettinger scored for the Capitals in the third period, but

it was the only shot to get by goalie Dominik Hasek, who finished

with 23 saves.

"They're a good defensive team starting with their goaltender

and then their strong (defensive) corps," Pettinger said.

"There's no weaknesses there, it's so tough."

The Senators played without leading scorer Daniel Alfredsson,

who missed his second straight game with a cracked rib, and center

Jason Spezza, who has a pulled chest muscle. But their teammates

picked up the slack.

During a 4-on-4 sequence in the first period, Zdeno Chara's shot

was saved by Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig, but the rebound went

directly to Phillips, who scored at 19:08.

Eaves scored 12:57 into the second period on assists from Vaclav

Varada and Chris Kelly.

"If you look at the guys that are injured, that's a lot of

firepower, a lot of points we're missing," Phillips said. "A lot

of nights, their talent just takes over and gets you goals. That's

why we had to be smarter about not giving up as many chances."

The Capitals had two long stretches with a 5-on-3 advantage, one

for 1:50 in the second period and another for 2:07 in the third,

but went scoreless until Pettinger's goal at 14:19 of the third.Game notes
Alfredsson, whose 25 goals rank fourth in the NHL, is

expected to miss another week. Spezza, who has missed six of the

last seven games, is day-to-day. ... Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin went

scoreless, ending a six-game goal-scoring streak -- a franchise

record for a rookie. ... The attendance of 10,047 was the lowest

for a Capitals game since Oct. 16. ... Kolzig finished with 24

saves.