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The Ottawa Senators' playoff hopes looked a little clearer late Thursday night, though the health of captain Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher looks a little muddied.

Antoine Vermette notched his first NHL hat trick in an 8-2 victory over the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs to give sixth-place Ottawa a three-point edge over the No. 8 Washington Capitals in the NHL's Eastern Conference.

The Senators' Daniel Alfredsson lies on the ice after being hit by Toronto's Mark Bell in the first period Thursday.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The Senators improved their record to 43-31-8 for 94 points, one point behind the fifth-seeded New York Rangers, who blanked the New York Islanders 3-0 Thursday.

Ottawa finishes the regular season Friday at home against No. 7 Boston, but could be without Alfredsson and Fisher, who left Thursday's contest with upper body and knee injuries respectively.

Alfredsson absorbed a thunderous hit from Mark Bell late in the first period with the Senators leading 2-1, while Fisher hurt himself in a collision with Toronto forward Alex Steen.

"I didn't like the [Bell] hit," said Ottawa coach Bryan Murray, who isn't sure when Alfredsson will return to the lineup. "I thought he was blindsided. The knee came out, and it was a hit to the head."

Leafs bench boss Paul Maurice countered: "We should've seen a lot more of those during the course of the year. It was a good hit. It was clean."

Senators forward Dany Heatley said most players let up when they have a player in Alfredsson's position who is in a vulnerable spot after letting go of the puck.

"It's borderline dirty when you do that," Heatley said of Bell.

The Maple Leafs centre disagreed.

"It was a clean hit, guy cutting across the middle, takes a shot, I hit him," said Bell.

When asked if there was an elbow that connected with Alfredsson, Bell replied: "No, I hit him with my shoulder."

Alfredsson took one shift in the second before heading to the Ottawa dressing room for the remainder of the game. Murray said his captain had "a bit of a knee problem" and an upper body injury (likely a head injury).

Shortly before getting hurt, Alfredsson set up Jason Spezza to give Ottawa the lead to stay at 2-1 late in the first period.

Earlier in the game, Alfredsson set up Heatley for his 40th goal of the campaign and 19th in the last 23 games against the Maple Leafs. He has 26 goals and 47 points in 31 career meetings versus Toronto.

The Senators scored three times in the second period and three more in the final 20 minutes to snap a four-game losing streak versus their Northeast Division rivals.

Ottawa also scored three short-handed goals — Cody Bass, Dean McAmmond and Vermette — to become only the third team in NHL history to achieve the feat, joining Chicago and the New York Islanders.

Heatley rounded out the scoring at 7:14 of the third period for the Senators, who were shut out by Boston and Montreal in their two previous outings.

McAmmond and Vermette made it embarrassing for the home side when they scored short-handed goals on the same Leaf power play earlier in the period. McAmmond scored on a partial breakaway at 2:27 while Vermette put in his own rebound at 3:11 after Toronto goalie Vesa Toskala stopped his first two attempts.

Spezza added a couple of assists to go with his 34th goal of the season, while Cory Stillman assisted on Vermette's second goal in his return from a leg injury.

Dominic Moore and Bell replied for the Leafs, who took the season series 4-3-1 and finished 18-17-6 overall at the Air Canada Centre.

"It's a real disappointing end," Maurice said of his team's performance in the last home game.

Toskala got shelled in the Leafs net, giving up eight goals on 37 shots, although he didn't get much help from his teammates. Martin Gerber got the win in goal for Ottawa, stopping 26 shots.

Toronto, which was eliminated from post-season contention on March 27 in Boston, could prevent the Canadiens from finishing first in the East when they face off in Montreal on Saturday (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).

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