Sens, Pens jump out in Round 2
Erik Karlsson scored on a bad-angle shot with 4:11 left in the third period, sending the Senators to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the opener of their second-round playoff series last night in Ottawa.
The Senators captain beat fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist from just above the goal line. The shot pinged off Rangers center Derek Stepan before going into the net.
It was Karlsson’s first goal and seventh point of the playoffs. The 26-yearold defenseman, who has been playing with a foot injury, also logged more than 28 minutes in the win. Game 2 is tomorrow. Ryan McDonagh scored for New York, and Lundqvist finished with 41 saves.
Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots and Ryan Dzingel scored for Ottawa, which eliminated the Bruins in six games in the first round.
The Senators, playing in front of several empty seats, had a chance for a fast start, but went 0-for-3 on the power play during a scoreless first period.
The 35-year-old Lundqvist was terrific, especially early on. He made 21 saves in the first, including a pair of stops on Mark Stone during a flurry around the net on Ottawa’s first power play.
Lundqvist had a 1.70 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in the first round against Montreal. Penguins 3, Capitals 2 — Sidney Crosby scored two goals in 52 seconds, Nick Bonino had the winner in the third period and visiting Pittsburgh beat Washington in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin got much of the buzz heading into the showdown of two of NHL’s best teams, and Ovechkin collected his fourth goal of the playoffs. Evgeny Kuznetsov tied it in the third, but Marc-Andre Fleury made 15 of his 32 saves in the final period to help the defending Stanley Cup champions to the victory.
Crosby was a threat to score just about every time he touched the puck. He beat Braden Holtby with his first two shots of the second period.
Holtby stopped 18 shots, but he allowed Bonino’s goal at 12:36. Game 2 is tomorrow. The Capitals had waited since their Game 6 overtime loss to the Penguins a year ago for another shot
at them, and coach Barry Trotz was among many who said it felt right for these teams to meet again. The NHL’s divisional playoff format put the top two teams in the regular season on this crash course to meet in the second round for one of the most anticipated series since, well, last year. Elsewhere in the NHL
— Nashville Predators forward Kevin Fiala broke his left leg during Game 1 against St. Louis and is recovering from surgery to repair his femur, the team said.
The 20-year-old Fiala was hit by Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and went hard into the boards behind the St. Louis net at 1:46 of the second period Wednesday night. His injury led to a 17-minute delay while Fiala received medical attention. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher to the hospital.