Stanley Cup: Ducks beats Senators · 2007-05-29 13:20
Travis Moen's goal late in the third period sent the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Andy McDonald and Ryan Getzlaf tallied for the Ducks, who won the first game of a playoff series for the third time in the postseason. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 18 saves in the victory.
Mike Fisher and Wade Redden scored for the Senators, who reached the Finals with a 12-3 record. Ray Emery stopped 29 shots in defeat.
"Emery played real well. I thought he made some stops, he was very effective through the night," said Senators head coach Bryan Murray.
Getzlaf tied the game with 5:44 played in the third, taking Corey Perry's feed and skating untouched on the right side before slipping a backhander through Emery's pads.
Moen picked up the go-ahead goal with 2:51 remaining, when he corralled a rolling puck on a centering feed by Rob Niedermayer, and buried a shot to the far side.
Emery went to the bench for an extra attacker with a minute to play, then Chris Pronger was sent off for a hook with 44 seconds left. On the ensuing man advantage, Giguere stoned Jason Spezza from in close with 14 seconds to go to preserve the one-goal win.
"I thought we did some good things," added McDonald. "We used our forecheck, we were physical. I thought as the game went along, we wore their defense down a bit, and I thought that was a factor."
The Ducks look to take a commanding series lead in Game 2, set for Wednesday at the Honda Center, an 8 p.m (et) face-off.
Ottawa struck first on the power play, just 1:38 into the game. Fisher got the puck in the left circle from Andrej Meszaros, and his quick shot hit Giguere in the glove and bounced high into the air. The puck floated into the crease and finally came down just inside the right goal post before Giguere and a Ducks defenseman could cover it.
According to Sports Network, Anaheim knotted the game with 9:05 to play, as Teemu Selanne fed McDonald off a turnover in the neutral zone for a blistering top-shelf wrister to finish a 2-on-1 rush.
It was 2-1 for the Sens on another power-play goal, this time with 4:36 played in the second. After a lengthy series inside the Ducks’ zone which involved Giguere being unable to gain control of his goal stick, Redden unleashed a fluttering left-point shot that hit the net high inside the left post.
Both teams were credited with 10 shots in the period, with Anaheim holding an 18-13 advantage, but the Sens had the one-goal lead heading into the third.
The teams had not met since a 4-3 Anaheim shootout win January 19, 2006 at Ottawa, and had not played each other in Anaheim since a 3-0 Sens' win October 17, 2003.
• Japanese became Miss Universe at second time
• Miss USA Rachel Smith fell and was booed by Mexicans
|