UP NEXT Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma

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OTTAWA - It was a hollow victory at best. The Ottawa Senators were more than happy to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 Saturday night on home ice to extend their win streak to four games. But in the big picture it meant little. "It was important for us to try and win this hockey game and send the fans home happy in the last home game," said Spezza. "(The streak) shows that we can be a more consistent club, but it still doesnt matter because we didnt make the playoffs and that was our ultimate goal and we didnt get there. Obviously weve done some better things of late, but we would have liked to do that earlier in the season." Spezza scored the lone goal, and Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as the Senators played their final home game of the regular season. Ottawa wraps up the season Sunday against Pittsburgh. With the victory, the Senators (36-31-14) tied their season-high winning streak of four games and finished the year above .500 on home ice with an 18-17-6 record. It was also their first win against Toronto this season. Senators coach Paul MacLean tried to focus on the positive of winning the last four games despite the disappointment of falling short this season. "Were playing games that dont mean much in the standings as far as getting us into the Stanley Cup playoffs which is what its all about," said MacLean. "But at the same time finishing our home schedule like we are is way better." The Leafs (38-36- capped off their season with 12 losses in their last 15 games, leaving them below the Senators in the standings. "Its terribly disappointing and emotional," said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. "Its like you almost get in a state of depression because its such a negative in your life. Were embarrassed about the way things unraveled for our hockey club." James Reimer faced 37 shots, making a number of big saves to keep Toronto in the game. Reimer finished the season with a 12-16-1 record. With his future unknown Reimer, who will be a restricted free agent, was visibly emotional following the game. "There definitely were some thoughts like that (that this could be my last game with Toronto," said Reimer. "I was just trying to come in here and have a last memorable game. Thinking about all the memories, its just been an interesting time." Despite the difficulties he and the Leafs had down the stretch Reimer admitted to feeling somewhat positive about his game of late. "Ive been feeling really good the last couple of games and really getting back to the way I can play," said Reimer. "Its good to have a night (Saturday) statistically to show where I was back to, but obviously it would have been nice to get the win. Personally its good to end on a high note." Milan Michalek had a chance to put Ottawa up 2-0 on a breakaway in the third period, but Reimer was able to get over and make the save along the post. "I think we created a lot of scoring chances and just couldnt put one in the net," said Ottawas Erik Karlsson. "Luckily for us Anderson was standing on his head and made some unbelievable saves when we needed it and we only needed to score the one." Anderson was pleased with his and the teams overall performance, but admitted he wished they could have played like this earlier in the season. "I think its bittersweet," said Anderson. "Theres also some frustration that we couldnt have done this sooner throughout the year, but thats just part of the growing pains and some of the adversity we had." The Leafs had a two-man advantage for 23 seconds midway through the third period, but were unable to capitalize. Torontos inability to produce on the power play had been a huge problem down the stretch. In their last ten games the Leafs were 4-for-30 with the man advantage. "Its disappointing to not be playing next week," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. "This is our job. Its a business and were in the business of results and we didnt get results. We were in a very good spot and we let it slip away and thats the extremely disappointing part of everything." Spezza opened the scoring at the seven-minute mark of the second with a power-play goal. Karlsson found Spezza alone in the faceoff circle and the Senators captain caught the inside of the post for his 23rd of the season. Spezza now has 56 points in 56 career games against the Leafs. Both teams had goals called off in a scoreless first period. At the eight-minute mark of the first, Torontos Tyler Bozak had a goal called off immediately due to a high stick, and on the ensuing play the Senators had a goal of their own waived off after incidental contact with the goaltender was called on the play. Notes: The Senators were without C Mika Zibanejad, who is undergoing tests for an undisclosed condition, D Jared Cowen (lower body, day-to-day) and RW Bobby Ryan (sports hernia, out for season). LW Matt Kassian was a healthy scratch. The Leafs were without G Jonathan Bernier (left MCL, two weeks), RW Joffrey Lupul (knee surgery, 3-4 weeks), Dave Bolland (lacerated ankle, unknown) and Carter Ashton (knee, unknown). D Carl Gunnarsson was a healthy scratch. D Petter Granberg made his NHL debut. Wholesale Jerseys From China . The teams official Twitter account quoted coach John Tortorella on Friday saying that Kesler "has a sprained knee and is out at least a couple of weeks". Wholesale Jerseys . Yes, Im writing to defend a player that is on pace for a 59-goal season, when the second-best goal-scorer in the NHL this season, Torontos Phil Kessel, is on pace for 43. Naturally, I didnt think that Ovechkin would be a player that needed much defending, but hes taken some hits lately. Im going to largely ignore his contributions on the power play because its not in any dispute that Ovechkin is great with the man advantage and can make a difference even when he doesnt score. http://www.wholesalejerseysbuy.us/ . The team announced on Thursday that it had agreed to the players request for a release. Jerseys Wholesale .Va. -- It was tough to tell what Remi Dibo enjoyed more: being the centerpiece of West Virginias 3-point show against No.SEATTLE -- Though the Mariners are the team in a tight playoff race, it was the Houston Astros who played like contenders Tuesday night. Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning to lift Collin McHugh and the Astros to a 2-1 victory over Seattle. Logan Morrison homered off McHugh in the eighth to tie it, but Houston countered and dropped the Mariners a half-game out in the race for the second AL wild card. "This type of win builds character," said interim Astros manager Tom Lawless, who is 5-2 since taking over when Bo Porter was fired last week. "They have the confidence and they know they can win. When you have that, you come out ahead a lot of times. And its someone different every night." With two outs in the ninth, Yoervis Medina (4-3) walked Jon Singleton and he advanced to second on a wild pitch. Singleton moved to third on Matt Dominguezs single to deep shortstop. Villar bounced a 1-1 fastball from Charlie Furbush to the right of second baseman Robinson Cano, who made a dive for the ball as it skipped over his glove and rolled into right field. "We had the matchup we wanted," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "We had the groundball we wanted. It just took a bad hop. Tough break." Houston (64-81) has won 13 of 21, and the Astros are nearly halfway through a stretch that has them facing playoff contenders in 18 straight games. "Its a good sign of things to come for this organization," McHugh said. McHugh (9-9) permitted only two hits in eight innings -- an infield single in the fourth and Morrisons long homer off the facade of the second deck in right field. The right-hander struck out four and walked none. Josh Fields worked the ninth for his fourth save. "The way we lost tonight is not ideal. We take it a little harder. But it is what it is: one game," Morrison said. "We still control our own destiny so if we continue to take care of business, well be fine." Roenis Elias pitched six innings for the Mariners, allowing one run and six hits. He walked two and struck out four. The Astros scored with two outs in the fourth. With Jake Marisnick on first, Singleton sent a line shot to right that hit the yellow line at the top of the 8-foot wall. In his attemptt to gather it in, right fielder Michael Saunders bobbled the ball twice.dddddddddddd That allowed Marisnick to beat the relay home on the double. A replay review kept the Astros off the board in the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Singleton bounced a grounder to the right of Morrison at first base. He made a high toss to Elias covering. Elias leaped for the ball and came down on the bag at the same time as Singleton. Singleton was ruled safe, and Chris Carter raced across the plate. McClendon challenged the call at first, which was reversed. Joe Beimel pitched to one batter in the ninth for his 50th appearance. That gave the Mariners seven relievers with at least 50 appearances, matching the major league record set by the 2002 Atlanta Braves. EXTENDED STAY? Lawless, who took over the team last Tuesday, said he hasnt talked to anyone in the front office but certainly would like to stick around after this season. "Ive been in baseball forever. Well see what happens," he said. "Hopefully, Ill be included in the mix and we can just take it from there. Maybe this is a nice tryout for me, to see what I can do and see how everybody responds and how were going about our business." SUCCESSFUL IN SEATTLE In two starts at Safeco Field, McHugh has given up just one run and allowed five hits while striking out 16. Over his last eight starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA. "I had better fastball command than Ive had in a while. It felt good coming out of my hand," McHugh said. "Its nice to be able to put the ball where you want. It was pretty frustrating to battle almost eight innings and (Morrison) puts a swing like that on it. You tip your hat, but it was still a tie game and we had a job to do." TRAINERS ROOM Mariners: An MRI revealed bone spurs in OF Dustin Ackleys painful left ankle. He missed his third straight game. The club hopes he can return for the weekend series against Oakland. UP NEXT Mariners RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (14-6, 2.97 ERA), who starts the series finale Wednesday, is 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his last eight starts. He has as many wins as walks this season. Iwakuma will be opposed by RHP Nick Tropeano, making his major league debut. The September call-up was a fifth-round selection in the 2011 draft. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '