The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pageau rallies Senators
Four-goal game includes winner in second overtime.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau got his fourth goal of the game in the second overtime after scoring twice late in regulation, lifting the Ottawa Senators over the New York Rangers 6-5 on Saturday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Ottawa leads the series 2-0 despite trailing by two goals after Brady Skjei’s score with 14:50 left in the third. Pageau cut it to 5-4 with 3:19 left in the period, then tied it with 1:02 remaining.
Pageau scored again 2:54 into the second OT, snapping in a shot during a 2-on-1 rush alongside Tommy Wingels. Pageau is the first Senators player ever with four goals in a playoff game.
Marc Methot and Mark Stone also scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson had 43 saves.
Skjei had two goals for New York, and Michael Grabner, Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan also scored. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.
The series heads to New York for Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Ottawa lost Clarke MacArthur to injury and won despite letting Grabner and Stepan score shorthanded. It leads a playoff series 2-0 for only the second time in team history and first since the 2007 Eastern Conference final against Buffalo. The Senators have never swept a postseason series.
Skjei scored a few minutes after Stone cut New York’s lead to 4-3. He broke up an odd-man rush, took a feed from Brendan Smith in transition and fired in his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Penguins 6, Capitals 2: Phil Kessel scored twice, Sidney Crosby set up two more goals and visiting Pittsburgh chased Braden Holtby on the way to a victory over Washington in Game 2, giving the Penguins a commanding 2-0 lead in their second-round series.
Marc-Andre Fleury was brilliant again in stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced for Pittsburgh, which also got goals by Matt Cullen, Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins scored three goals on 14 shots on Holtby, who was pulled in favor of Philipp Grubauer after the second period.
Grubauer didn’t fare much better, allowing two goals on nine shots. Matt Niskanen and Nicklas Backstrom scored for the Capitals, who outshot the Penguins 36-23 but still face an uphill task of trying to become just the 19th team to win a series after losing the first two games at home.
Guentzel added an empty-net goal to seal it for the Penguins, his playoff-best seventh.
Game 3 is Monday in Pittsburgh.
Late Friday
Oilers 2, Ducks 1: Cam Talbot made 39 saves and Patrick Maroon scored a power-play goal as visiting Edmonton moved halfway to the Western Conference finals with a 2-1 victory over Anaheim in Game 2 of their second-round series.
Andrej Sekera scored an early goal for the Oilers, who took the first two games on Pacific Division champion Anaheim’s home ice. Talbot was the difference in Game 2, making all manner of impressive saves while Anaheim dominated the last 30 minutes.
Game 3 is tonight in Edmonton.