Senators force 7th game against Penguins
Hoffman wins it with goal in third period; Anderson has 45 saves
OTTAWA, Ontario — Mike Hoffman scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night and force a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Hoffman fired a slap shot through traffic off a pass from Fredrik Claesson to put the Senators ahead at 1:34 of the third.
Bobby Ryan also scored a rare power-play goal for Ottawa and Craig Anderson stopped 45 shots, including 22 in the second period.
Evgeni Malkin gave Pittsburgh, vying for its second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the lead early in the second period and Matt Murray finished with 28 saves.
Game 7 is Thursday night in Pittsburgh, with the winner advancing to face the Nashville Predators for the championship.
The Senators managed to quickly forget a 7-0 loss two days earlier in Game 5 and extend their season for one more shoot at a return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 10 years. and land one more shot at a first Stanley Cup final appearance in 10 years.
“We bought ourselves two more days together and this team just wants to be around each other,” Ryan said. “It’s exciting.”
Ottawa was primarily looking for a return to structure in Game 6, beginning with a smoother start — which they got. Notable in a scoreless opening period were two effective penalty kills, one of which saw Viktor Stalberg get the best opportunity shorthanded.
Pittsburgh had four shots with the man advantage, but Anderson stopped them all. He struggled through Games 4 and 5, but it was evident early that he had his game back in this one. He stopped Nick Bonino off a rebound in transition, Scott Wilson off a deflected shot by Phil Kessel, and Bonino again when Kyle Turris gave the puck away.
“You can’t change what happens in the past,” Anderson said. “From that moment on you have to look forward and get ready for the next one.”