Ottawa's Anton Volchenkov scored one goal and assisted on another on Saturday as the Senators defeated Anaheim 5-3 to claw their way back into the NHL Stanley Cup finals.
Rallying three times from a one-goal deficit, the Senators won their first game in the best-of-seven National Hockey League championship series. Anaheim leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Ottawa today and Game 5 on Wednesday at Anaheim.
"It was a character game today because we came from behind a few times, but came back with timely goals," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said.
PHOTO: AP
"We're obviously excited," Mike Fisher said. "We knew we'd get a boost being back home in front of our fans. Before the game we could hear them going nuts. We were confident, we knew we could put out a good effort and beat this team.
"We're on our way," he said. "We felt we played well tonight. We know how we can beat this team now."
The Senators, trying to become the first Canadian team to claim the trophy since Montreal in 1993, scored a pivotal goal just 27 seconds after Corey Perry had given the Ducks a 2-1 lead 5:20 into the second period.
Anaheim had only five players on the ice even though there was no penalty against them and the mistake proved costly when Ottawa won the draw, Volchenkov fired a shot and Fisher redirected it into the goal for the equalizer.
The Ducks, who had hoped to move within one triumph of claiming the Cup for the first time, took a 3-2 lead on Ryan Getzlaf's seventh goal of the playoffs at 7:38 of the third period.
But the Senators answered yet again with 3:36 remaining in the second period as Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson of Sweden netted a power play goal, his 11th tally of the playoffs.
Alfredsson's goal was allowed after a video review, after it was initially ruled he had redirected the puck past Giguere with his skate.
"I felt it was a goal all along," Alfredsson said. "I think from the ref's position, he thought it went off my skate. I don't think it was kicked. But to me it felt I never kicked the puck, never lifted my foot. I was confident it was going to be a goal."
Just 2:20 later, with only 86 seconds remaining in the second period, the Senators took the lead for the first time on Dean McAmmond's fifth goal of the playoffs. Ottawa ended the second period ahead 4-3.
Volchenkov scored 8:22 into the third period to double Ottawa's edge.
The Ducks pressed to get back into contention and delivered a dubious hit when Anaheim star Chris Pronger slammed his left elbow into the head of McAmmond, whose head struck the ice to send him off the ice for the remainder of the game.
"It was an elbow to the head," said Senators coach Bryan Murray. "I can't for the life of me understand how it was missed by four officials."
Anaheim's Andy McDonald opened the scoring 5:39 into the first period and Ottawa's Chris Neil answered 10:31 later.
Getzlaf said all the Ducks can do now is try to regroup for game four.
"They came out, they played hard," Getzlaf said.
"They are forechecking like crazy," he said. "And they gained momentum from each other and built on certain things. And we sat back and allowed them to do it."
"We didn't play well tonight, and we didn't play well enough to win," he added. "We had a chance to be in a hockey game tonight and we let it slip away."
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just