Senators seize control in East
OTTAWA, Ontario — Marc Methot, Derick Brassard and Zack Smith scored in a 2:18 span midway through the first period to chase goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and the Ottawa Senators went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1, last night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Mike Hoffman opened the scoring 48 seconds in, and the Senators blew it open against the sluggish Penguins a few minutes later. Kyle Turris made it 5-0 late in the second period.
Sidney Crosby ended Craig Anderson’s shutout bid with a power-play goal in the third.
Anderson finished with 25 saves. Fleury allowed four goals on nine shots, and Matthew Murray made 19 saves in relief.
Game 4 is Friday night in Ottawa.
Hosting their first conference finals game in 10 years, the Senators came out flying. Hoffman got it going by capitalizing on Turris’ shot that bounced awkwardly wide of the goal. Hoffman stuffed the shot, standing to the left of the goal, just between the post and right pad of Fleury.
Brassard got the first of three when he snatched Erik Karlsson’s dump-in and swung wide of the Pittsburgh goal. Bobby Ryan eventually gained possession down low and found Methot with a crafty pass. While his initial shot was stopped, the rebound bounced off Penguins defenseman Ian Cole and into the net. It was the second goal of the playoffs for Methot after he went scoreless in 68 games during the regular season.
Brassard added his fourth of the postseason less than two minutes later, taking advantage of the Senators’ offensive zone pressure before slipping behind the aging Mark Streit for the shot that beat Fleury.
Streit was making his playoff debut for the increasingly battered Pens, who lost Justin Schultz and Bryan Rust to upperbody injuries in Game 2. Pittsburgh, which did get Trevor Daley back from injury, also remained without injured winger Patric Hornqvist as well as No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang, who’s out for the season with a neck ailment.
Apparent miscommunication between Streit and Cole led to Cole throwing the puck away shortly before Brassard’s goal. Ottawa, looking crisp and confident, finished the flurry 24 seconds after Brassard’s goal, with Smith beating Fleury on a wrap-around, chasing Fleury.