SENATORS TOP PENGUINS 2-1 IN OT, TAKE 1-0 SERIES LEAD
Penguins tie game in third period but lose opener in East.
Bobby Ryan beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway 4:59 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.
Ryan took control near center ice and raced by defenseman Olli Maatta before flipping a backhander past Fleury to give the underdog Senators early control of the series.
The Senators improved 6-1 in overtime during these playoffs.
Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Ryan assisted on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s first-period goal, his eighth of the playoffs. Craig Anderson made 27 saves.
Evgeni Malkin’s goal at 14:25 of the third period forced overtime, but the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins struggled to generate consistent pressure. Fleury made 33 stops, but Ryan deked him out of position as the Penguins fell behind in a series for the first time in these playoffs.
For long stretches, it felt like the game could have been played in mid-December instead of midMay, which was just fine by Ottawa. Pittsburgh’s issues came after it gained the offensive zone. The team that led the NHL in scoring during the regular season often passed up open looks in search of better ones that never materialized.
Only the fourth line, led by 40-year-old Matt Cullen, seemed intent on getting to the net.
The Penguins had plenty of chances to take control but produced nothing out of four first-period power plays, including 45 seconds of a 5-on-3. Ron Hainsey hit the crossbar early and Patric Hornqvist dinged the left post.
Ducks-Predators: Game 2 of the West final is tonight in Anaheim, and the Ducks said Saturday they need to begin with more energy than they showed during a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1.
“To start the game, it didn’t feel like the conference finals, to be honest,” forward Andrew Cogliano said. “I think a lot of things played a factor into it, but emotionally, we didn’t start the game like we needed to. From the flip side, the positive is we lost in overtime, so I think we were able to weather the storm in terms of how (Nashville) came out.”
James Neal scored 9:24 into overtime Friday after the Ducks tied it in the third period. Otherwise Anaheim scored only on its first shot on goal as goalie John Gibson kept the Ducks in the game with 43 saves.
The Ducks went seven games with Edmonton in the second round while the Predators rested.
“No guy will use that as an excuse,” said Ducks center Nate Thompson. “They came out and took it to us. We just need to get back to playing our game.”
The Predators, who improved to 9-2 in this postseason, won their third straight series opener on the road.