The Buffalo Sabres finished off the top-seeded Ottawa Senators with yet another overtime goal Saturday to advance to the NHL Eastern Conference final against the winner of the Carolina-New Jersey series.
Jason Pominville scored a short-handed goal 2:26 into the extra period, Ryan Miller made 34 saves and Buffalo beat Ottawa 3-2.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils stayed alive for at least one more day in the playoffs when they cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
With Jay McKee in the penalty box for tripping Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson 1:44 into the extra period, Pominville burst down the left side and cut in front of goalie Ray Emery to tuck the puck past the Senators rookie and give Buffalo its third overtime winner of the series.
All five games were decided by one goal in the series that featured a tie score or a one-goal lead for all but 1:40 of total play.
Sabres defenseman Henrik Tallinder scored his first career playoff goal 33 seconds in and co-captain Chris Drury added a power-play goal 7:56 into the second to put Buffalo up 2-1.
Senators defenseman Brian Pothier scored for the second game in a row on a power play at 13:59 of second to tie it at 2. Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson got his second goal of the playoffs on a 5-on-3 midway through the first.
New Jersey, plagued by bad bounces and misfortune throughout the first three games of their semifinal series, avoided being swept in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
The Devils busted out with three first-period goals -- all by their maligned special teams.
Scott Gomez scored twice, and Sergei Brylin's goal 44 seconds into the middle frame made it 4-0 and chased rookie goalie Cam Ward, who paced Carolina's seven-game winning streak which ended in a big way. John Madden and Jay Pandolfo also scored for New Jersey.
Martin Brodeur, who had his worst postseason loss in Game 1, made 19 saves. His only blemish was Mark Recchi's goal with 8:56 left in the second which cut Carolina's deficit to 5-1. Brodeur moved into sole possession of third place on the NHL career playoff wins list with 89 while playing his record 141st consecutive game.
But the Hurricanes are still in great shape to reach the conference finals for the second time in four seasons, up 3-1 with two home games left should the series go the distance. Only two NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win.
Hours after landing in Europe, Patrick O'Sullivan scored the go-ahead goal as the US held off Latvia 4-2 to clinch a quarterfinal berth.
O'Sullivan's 11-hour flight from Houston meant he arrived in Riga only three hours before the game, and he said he was relieved to win.
"To get an important goal for the team in my first game, especially after having a really tough day of travel, it feels good to help the boys out," he said.
The Americans, coming off a 4-0 loss to Finland the night before, followed fellow Group E leaders Canada, Finland and the Czech Republic into the quarterfinals. Latvia and Norway were eliminated from contention.
In Group F, Belarus routed Ukraine 9-1 to close in on a spot in the last eight. Belarus was led by Mikhail Grabovsky's hat trick.
Only Russia in Group F has qualified for the quarters, leaving Olympic champion Sweden, Switzerland and Belarus favored to clinch the last berths. Slovakia and Ukraine still held hope.
The US advanced to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. It has missed out only twice since 1998, when the 16-team format was started.
O'Sullivan, a late roster addition from the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League, gave the Americans a 3-2 lead at 2:27 in the last period with Latvia short-handed.
From Mark Cullen's setup pass from the right, O'Sullivan fired a one-timer past Latvia goalie Sergejs Naumovs.
Ryan Suter added an insurance goal eight minutes later on another power-play.
Also scoring for the Americans were Ryan Malone and Dustin Brown, who's the second-best goalscorer in the tournament with four. Brown had a hat trick in the opener against Norway.
For Latvia, Lauris Darzins and captain Aleksandrs Semjonovs scored.
Craig Anderson went the distance for the Americans in goal, making 22 saves.
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