Senators chase Fleury, rout Penguins in Game 3
Methot, Brassard, Smith score in 138-second span in 1st period
at Padres 7 p.m. today, FSAZ
“But overall I felt much better today. Probably the best I’ve felt in two years. Definitely a positive.”
Collins said he “saw some bright things in Matt Harvey today.”
Mets starters have gone 17 consecutive games without getting an out in the seventh inning, tying the club high set in 2002.
Jake Lamb’s two-run homer in the third was the 11th home run in eight starts this season off Harvey, whose fastball reached 98 mph. After giving up a double to Paul Goldschmidt, Harvey struck out the Arizona slugger twice, on three pitches each time.
Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings, and five pitchers combined for two-hit relief. The bullpen, an uncertainty entering the season, has been a strength.
“They’ve been huge pretty much all year,” Corbin said. “Our offense is going to score eventually, so if they keep doing that we’re going to win a lot of these games.”
First-year manager Torey Lovullo said “the thing that stands out to me is they are one big unit, one cohesive unit that prides themselves on picking up one another.”
Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares homered for the Mets. New York led 4-3 before Yasmany Tomas’ RBI double in the seventh off Robert Gsellman, whose turn is being skipped in the rotation because of an off day.
“At that point, we felt very good about our chances,” Lovullo said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RF David Peralta was out of the starting lineup for the third straight game with right glute tightness but pinch hit for Corbin in the sixth and grounded into a forceout.
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 beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday 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 with the fastest three goals in team playoff history. 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. Pittsburgh has scored a goal in each game in the series, dropping the opener 2-1 in overtime and winning the second 1-0.
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 Eastern Conference final game in 10 years, the Sens 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 dumpin 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 upper-body injuries in Game 2.