OT goal gives Senators a 3-1 series edge
OTTAWA -- A series that has had a little bit of almost everything else added overtime to the list Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place.
Kyle Turris scored 2:32 into the extra session to complete an Ottawa Senators comeback and give his team a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in front of 20,500 fans.
"He's been a player that's grown a lot with us this year, having to take over the No. 1 center position even if he's not that No. 1 center," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "But he played against a lot of the best guys in the league. He's really started to come out of the tunnel at the other end, and there's a light there. His overall game has improved so much this year."
The win gives the Senators a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven, opening-round playoff series.
The Senators were down 2-0 when rookie Mika Zibanejad finally beat Carey Price with 8:05 to play in the third on a goal that needed a replay ruling to determine it was not intentionally kicked in.
Then, with 25.5 seconds left on the clock and goalie Craig Anderson on the bench for an extra attacker, rookie Cory Conacher scored off a goal mouth scramble to extend the evening.
"I wouldn't say we were lucky, because this is a team that has comeback before," Conacher said, according to NHL.com. "But there's some hockey gods up there that helped us throughout the game and throughout the third period."
The Senators outshot the Habs 32-27 through three periods.
Backup goalie Peter Budaj replaced Price in goal for overtime. Price, who sustained a lower-body injury, was not on the bench after the change was made.
Turris' weak looking shot beat Budaj inside the shot side post.
The Habs, who lost all three meetings in Ottawa during the regular season, were in control of this game from the start.
"We came to play, and that's exactly what we did. We certainly deserved a better fate. It's tough to explain. Really tough to explain," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "I thought we were pushing the pace (in the third), and we didn't give up many scoring chances. The first goal opened the door for them. It's not supposed to happen like this."
They didn't allow the Senators a shot for the first 8 1/2 minutes of the opening period, even with Ottawa being awarded a power play during that time.
Still, the game remained scoreless until P.K. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk scored 62 seconds apart early in the second.
Subban fired a wrist shot high past Anderson on the stick side at the 2:52 mark. Then Galchenyuk scored with another high shot before the Montreal fans in attendance had stopped celebrating the first goal.
NOTES: Senators defenseman Eric Gryba returned from a two-game suspension for his hit on Lars Eller in the series opener. Montreal's Brandon Prust, who had ominously wished Gryba wasn't penalized by the league, sought his own justice in the first period when he took a two-minute roughing penalty for a hit to Gryba's head. ... Gryba replaced injured rookie defenseman Patrick Wiercioch. ... For the second time in the series, Montreal captain Brian Gionta was scratched from the lineup with an upper-body injury. Gionta, who played Games 1 and 3, has 31 career playoff goals, by far the most of any Canadien. ... Also out of the Habs lineup was Ryan White, but Jeff Halpern and Gabriel Dumont were back. ... Two Canadiens were nominated for NHL awards earlier in the day -- Subban for the Norris Trophy, given to the league's best defenseman, and Brendan Gallagher for the Calder Trophy, which goes to the top rookie. ... After becoming the only the second Senators player with a playoff hat trick, 20-year-old center Jean-Gabriel Pageau lead the team with two shots and its best scoring chance in the first period.
