Samuel Pahlsson figured out Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery with 5:44 left in the third period to give the Anaheim Ducks a 1-0 victory and a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday.
Pahlsson, a finalist to be the NHL's top defensive forward, joined linemate Travis Moen with game-winning goals in the series. They already mastered the job of shutting down Ottawa's high-flying top line and now are providing the finishing blows against the Eastern Conference champs.
"We worked really hard the whole game for that one, but we couldn't get anything by Emery," Pahlsson said. "We just try to play our game, make it easy for us and hard for them. We got some goals and we don't expect that every game. It's fun."
Tomorrow, the series will shift to Ottawa for the first time since 1927, and the Senators will have to discover a way to break out of a scoring funk in the next two games to earn a trip back to Southern California. Teams that won the first two games at home have captured the Cup 29 of 30 times.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 16 shots for his sixth playoffs shutout and first this year. He leaped as time ran out and the loud duck call vibrated through a deafening arena.
Emery finished with 30 saves for the Senators, who lost only once in each of their first three playoffs series.
After a turnover by Dany Heatley, Pahlsson carried the puck down the right-wing boards, worked around Daniel Alfredsson, and let go a shot past defenseman Joe Corvo who had his back to him. That matched Moen's winning tally that came with 2:51 left on Monday.
After a playoffs low of 20 shots in the series opener, the Senators managed less of a punch in Game Two. But what the game lacked in goals, it didn't fall short in exciting, tense play.
Emery was brilliant and had the added bonus of a few quick whistles from the referees as he tried to freeze the puck. Senators coach Bryan Murray complained after Game One that the Ducks delivered extra stick jabs after the whistle and the message was received by referees Bill McCreary and Brad Watson.
Teemu Selanne nearly scored three and a half minutes into the third when he chipped the puck to Emery's right up to the height of the crossbar. The puck fell tantalizingly close to the goal line, but Emery gloved it just in time.
Whether it was panic or progressive thinking, Murray started the game with Alfredsson without his familiar linemates Heatley and Jason Spezza -- a trio that combined for 28 goals and 60 points in Ottawa's first 16 playoff games but had only two assists in the 3-2 loss in the finals opener.
The group got back together for the Senators' three power plays in the first period and scattered shifts during the opening two frames. But at even strength, the Senators didn't look like the team that scored nine times in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals against Buffalo.
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