Recap: Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa
Sports Network | April 23, 2010
Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Matt Carkner scored the game-winning goal 7:06 into the third overtime, as the Ottawa Senators lived another day with a 4-3 Game 5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Mellon Arena.
Carkner's slapper from the right point beat traffic in front and found the back of the net to force a Game 6 back home on Saturday.
In the first playoff start of his career, Pascal Leclaire set a Senators playoff record with 56 saves. The netminder made a total of 17 saves in the overtime periods to cut the Penguins' lead in the series to 3-2.
Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, which got a goal apiece from Jarkko Ruutu and Peter Regin.
"I thought the guys showed a lot of character," Senators coach Cory Clouston said. "I thought the last half of the second and first half of the third we kind of sat back and it was almost like we were waiting for something bad to happen. It wasn't until they went ahead that we started to just play our game."
Sidney Crosby was the star once again for Pittsburgh, scoring a goal and dishing out an assist. He now has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in the series. Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz also lit the lamp in defeat.
Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 40-of-44 shots for the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, who had rattled off three straight victories after dropping the opener of this best-of-seven series.
"If you keep doing the right things you'll get rewarded. If we do that we'll get the result we want," Crosby said.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the third, Pittsburgh appeared to score with 16:38 left. Sergei Gonchar's blast from the point was deflected into the back of the net by a high stick from Kunitz. It was immediately called no goal on the ice, which was upheld upon review.
The crowd finally got a chance to celebrate for real when Crosby lit the lamp with 10:59 remaining. Leclaire made two brilliant saves on Evgeni Malkin in front, but the disc squirted into the slot. Crosby entered the picture and was able to fire a wrister past Leclaire for a 3-2 edge.
But just over a minute later, Regin tied things up to keep Ottawa alive. Regin's slapper from the point beat traffic in front and got past Fleury.
Neither team scored the rest of the way, sending the tilt into overtime.
Ottawa had a goal waived off just 2:05 into the first extra session. Jason Spezza's shot on net set up a rebound in front for Nick Foligno, who kicked the puck into the net. The goal was called off right away by the refs.
Fleury stopped 11 shots in the first OT, while Leclaire made six saves.
The goaltenders continued to dominate in the second overtime, as Leclaire and Fleury made seven and six stops, respectively.
The Senators jumped out to an early lead with a pair of goals 1:08 apart in the first. Erik Karlsson fired a shot on net from along the right boards that Fisher deflected in for a power-play score at 10:25.
Ruutu followed with a goal to make it 2-0. Foligno controlled the disc behind the net and slid a pass in front. The puck hit off a few skates before finding Ruutu's stick.
The Penguins scored on the power play with 1:55 left to cut the gap to 2-1. A broken play resulted in Kris Letang beating Leclaire with a snap shot from the left circle.
Kunitz lit the lamp with 1:26 remaining in the middle stanza to make it a 2-2 contest heading to the third. Crosby's shot on net left a rebound at the side of the net for Kunitz, who swatted at the puck multiple times before it crossed the line. The goal was initially called off because the refs thought the net was dislodged when the puck crossed the line. Upon review, the call was reversed due to the net being in place.
Pittsburgh was without defenseman Jordan Leopold (head) for a third straight game. Forward Tyler Kennedy also missed the game for the Penguins with a lower-body injury...Since 1991, the Penguins are 10-5 when they have an opportunity to close out a series on home ice...The Senators missed the playoffs last spring and were bounced out in the first round by Pittsburgh two years ago...The only other triple OT game in Sens history was in 2002 vs. Toronto...The last time the Pens went into triple overtime was Game 5 at Detroit in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.
