Todd White's second goal of the game 2:25 into the second overtime Monday gave Ottawa a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders and a 2-1 series lead for the top-seeded Senators.
The teams split the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Ottawa. The Senators, who won the Presidents' Trophy with 113 points -- 30 more than eighth-seeded New York -- only need to win their remaining two home games to reach the second round for the second successive year.
Chris Phillips also scored for Ottawa, which got 30 saves from Patrick Lalime.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Alexei Yashin and Randy Robitaille scored for New York, which had 29 saves from Garth Snow.
Game 4 is Wednesday on Long Island, and the series returns to Ottawa for Game 5 on Thursday.
Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3, 2 OT
In Toronto, Tomas Kaberle scored his second goal of the game at 7:20 of the second overtime as Toronto took a 2-1 lead over Philadelphia.
After Toronto's Mats Sundin skated around the back of the net and put a shot on goalie Roman Cechmanek, Kaberle backhanded the rebound in.
Kaberle tied the game at 2-2 in the second period before Alexander Mogilny gave Toronto a 3-2 lead with his fifth goal of the series.
Mark Recchi tied it at 3-3 early in the third period. Kim Johnsson almost won it for the Flyers in the first overtime, but his shot deflected off goalie Ed Belfour's right shoulder and hit the post.
Eric Weinrich and Eric Desjardins gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in the first 8:02. But Robert Reichel put Toronto back in the game with a goal just 37 seconds after that of Desjardins.
Avalanche 3, Wild 0
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota's fans waited 11 years for another playoff game, but Patrick Roy was unbeatable as Colorado spoiled the Wild's coming-out party.
In the first playoff game the Twin Cities has hosted since the Dallas Stars were the Minnesota North Stars in 1992, Alex Tanguay's early first-period goal got Colorado going.
The victory gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series. Game 4, also in St. Paul, is Wednesday night. The series shifts back to Denver for Game 5 on Saturday afternoon.
Peter Forsberg had a goal and an assist, while Joe Sakic had a goal for Colorado, which got 18 saves from Roy.
Blues 3, Canucks 1
In St. Louis, Doug Weight had two goals and an assist as a stingy defense helped St. Louis take control of the opening-round series with Vancouver.
The Blues, who also got a goal and an assist from Pavol Demitra, lead the Western Conference series 2-1 heading into Game 4 Wednesday night in St. Louis.
Defenseman Al MacInnis, the Blues' captain, injured his shoulder on a hit by Todd Bertuzzi in the first period of Game 2 and will be out indefinitely. Without his dominating slap shot on the power play, the Blues improvised with a lineup that often featured four left-handed shooters.
Despite the absence of MacInnis, Vancouver was held to 14 shots, the team's lowest total since Feb. 20 at St. Louis, when the Canucks also had 14. Marek Malik scored his first career playoff goal on a second-period power play.
Mighty Ducks 2, Red Wings 1
In Anaheim, California, Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 36 shots and Samuel Pahlsson and Stanislav Chistov scored as Anaheim beat Detroit to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
Last year, the Red Wings came from a 2-0 deficit against Vancouver in the first round to the next four games and make their third Stanley Cup title in six years.
Detroit faces a considerably tougher challenge now -- only two other teams have come back to win series when down 3-0.
Swept by Detroit in their only two previous trips to the postseason, the Ducks need a victory at home in Game 4 on Wednesday night to sweep the Red Wings.
The 25-year-old Giguere saved 97 shots to help the Ducks win the first two games.
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