Senators take Game 1:
Ryan scores in overtime, Ottawa opens Eastern Conference finals with win at Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH — Bobby Ryan beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway 4:59 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Ryan took control near center ice and raced by Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta before flipping a backhander past Fleury to give the upstart Senators early control of the series.
The Senators improved 6-1 in overtime during the playoffs.
Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Ryan assisted on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s first-period goal. Craig Anderson made 27 saves.
Evgeni Malkin’s goal late in the third period forced the extra period, but the defending Stanley Cup champions struggled to generate any consistent pressure. Fleury made 33 stops, but let Ryan deke him out of position as the Penguins fell behind in a series for the first time in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh only had 72 hours to recharge following a draining seven-game series against Washington. While the Penguins insisted they would have no problem turning the page with a spot in the Stanley Cup finals on the line, there was a dip in intensity both on the ice and in the stands.
For long stretches, it felt like the game could have been played in mid-December instead of mid-May, which was just fine by Ottawa. The Senators stressed they weren’t simply just happy to reach the NHL’s final four for the first time in a decade.
While Ottawa hardly seemed overcome by the stage, the neutral zone trap coach Guy Boucher installed upon his hiring last spring didn’t exactly cause the Penguins problems.
Instead, Pittsburgh’s issues came after it gained the offensive zone. The team that led the NHL in scoring during the regular season and ousted the first and fourth overall teams during the first two rounds of the playoffs despite being outshot every game looked tentative, often passing 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 Ottawa net.