Ottawa grabs 3-2 series edge with OT win
Top-seeded Capitals stay alive with victory over Penguins
OTTAWA — Kyle Turris scored 6:28 into overtime to lift the Ottawa Senators to 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday for a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Derick Brassard tied the score with 1:26 left in the third period for the Senators. Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Tom Pyatt also scored, and Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots. It was Ottawa’s fifth overtime win of the postseason, including a double-overtime victory here against the Rangers in Game 2.
Jesper Fast, Nick Holden, Ryan McDonagh and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 32 saves.
Michael Grabner appeared to win it for the Rangers less than 5 minutes into overtime, but it was disallowed because his redirection came on a high stick.
Turris then knocked in the rebound of his own shot through Lundqvist’s five-hole to put the Senators one win away from returning to the conference finals for the first time since 2007.
Game 6 is Tuesday night in New York. Ottawa trailed 2-0 less than 5½ minutes into the game before scoring three times to take the lead midway through the second period. McDonagh tied it for the Rangers late in the second and Vesey gave them the lead with 7:12 remaining in the third.
With Anderson pulled for an extra skater, Brassard tied it with the puck deflecting in off the back of Rangers defenseman Brandon Smith’s right skate.
The Senators having that 6-to-5 edge in skaters might have caught the Rangers by surprise.
“There is definitely an area as far as structure-wise that I thought we had addressed,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “Maybe the guys didn’t know the goaltender was coming (out), but there was less than 2 minutes (to play) and (Ottawa) was down by a goal so they should expect it but maybe the guys got caught not knowing the goalie was out.”
Teams that win Game 5 when a series is tied 2-2 have gone on to win 78.7 per cent of the time, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, including 3-0 in 2017.
CAPITALS 4, PENGUINS 2: In Washington, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored 27 seconds apart in the third period as Washington avoided elimination by beating Pittsburgh in Game 5.
Nicklas Backstrom tied the score early in the third as the top-seeded Capitals finally solved Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed four goals on 32 shots. Washington’s comeback spoiled the return of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby after a one-game absence because of a concussion.
Crosby had an assist and Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel also scored for the Penguins, who lead the second-round series 3-2 with Game 6 back in Pittsburgh on Monday night.
While Fleury struggled for the first time against the Capitals, Vezina Trophy finalist Braden Holtby had his best game of the series, stopping 20 shots. Andre Burakovsky also scored for Washington.
Late Friday
DUCKS 4, OILERS 3 (2 OTs): In Anaheim, Calif., Corey Perry scored 6:57 into the second overtime after the Anaheim rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final minutes of regulation, completing a victory over Edmonton and seizing a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Rickard Rakell put the tying goal through a crowd of prone players with 15 seconds left in regulation to cap a stunning sequence of three goals in just over three minutes, all with goalie Ducks John Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.
After nearly 27 minutes of overtime, Perry collected a pass from Ryan Getzlaf and waited out a sprawling Cam Talbot to finish Anaheim’s third straight win — and the first home victory for either team in the series.
Game 6 is today in Edmonton. Game 7, if necessary, will be in Anaheim on Wednesday.