Sens blow out Pens in Game 3
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators needed less than 13 minutes to put away Game 3 of the NHL’s Eastern Conference final.
Ottawa got four goals past MarcAndré Fleury in the first 12 minutes and 52 seconds — including the fastest three goals in team playoff history — and went on to top the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Kyle Turris, Derick Brassard, Mike Hoffman and Marc Methot each had a goal and an assist and Craig Anderson stopped 25 shots in the victory, which gives the Sens a 2-1 series edge with Game 4 ahead on Friday night.
Zack Smith also scored and Bobby Ryan had two helpers for Ottawa, who suddenly has the upper hand in a series most expected to go the Penguins way.
Sidney Crosby had the lone marker for Pittsburgh, which has scored only three goals all series. Fleury gave up four on nine shots and was replaced by Matt Murray, who made 19 saves.
Hosting their first Eastern Conference final game in 10 years, the Sens came out flying and scored after only 48 seconds. Hoffman got it by capitalizing on a Turris shot that bounced awkwardly wide of the goal. The 27-year-old stuffed the shot, standing to the left of the goal, just between the post and right pad of Fleury.
The waters smoothed a little after that — though the Pens struggled to get any good looks on Anderson — and then Ottawa struck for the fastest three goals in team playoff history. Scoring three in two minutes and 18 seconds, the Sens smashed the previous record of four minutes from Game 1 of a second-round series against Toronto in 2002.
Brassard got the first of three when he snatched an attempted Erik Karlsson dump-in and swung wide of the Pittsburgh goal. Ryan eventually gained possession down low and found Methot with a crafty pass.
While his initial shot was stopped, the rebound bounced off Penguins defenceman Ian Cole and into the net. Brassard added his fourth of the post-season less than two minutes later, taking advantage of the Sens relentless offensive zone pressure before slipping behind the aging Mark Streit for the shot that beat Fleury.