For the 5th consecutive time, the Pittsburgh Penguins have found a way to outlast a playoff opponent and win the series. Pascal Dupuis’s overtime winner in Ottawa ended the Senators’ season and sent the Penguins on to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will make their 3rd consecutive appearance.
This series wasn’t as easy for the Penguins as most people thought it would be, and the final game was no different. Playing for their lives, the Senators stormed out of the gate to take a 3-0 lead midway through the 2nd period, but Pittsburgh scored the game’s last four goals to crush the hopes of the fans at Scotiabank Place in Canada’s capital city who were praying that Pascal Leclaire and the Sens would find the magic again to force a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh.
Matt Cullen scored the game’s first goal just five minutes into the first period, coming off the bench and catching Kris Letang deep in the offensive zone. Danny Alfredsson found him streaking through the neutral zone and gave him a beautiful breakaway pass, and Cullen deked Marc-Andre Fleury out of position before putting Ottawa up 1-0. The score remained that way through the remainder of a physical first period, as Pascal Leclaire continued to stifle the Penguin offense, making 10 saves in the first frame.
In the 2nd period, grinder Chris Neil continued his unusual offensive production, spinning in the slot to get a backhand on a rebound give the Sens a 2-0 lead less than 2 minutes in. Alfredsson got a goal of his own midway through the period off some good Ottawa pressure after an offensive zone faceoff win but it was all down hill from there for the Sens. Pittsburgh agitator Matt Cooke scored the first of his two goals in the game, finding a loose puck in the crease and reaching out to flip it in the back of the net and get the Pens on the board. In a tough break for Ottawa, Mike Fisher had a goal disallowed late in the 2nd period after a long video review session. Initially called a goal, it would have restored Ottawa’s 3 goal lead, but the video officials determined that the puck did not cross the goal line and the Pens were set up for a great comeback in the 3rd.
In the 3rd, Bill Guerin’s one timed slap shot beat Leclaire high to the glove side and pulled Pittsburgh within one goal, just seconds after they had had a goal of their own disallowed. Five minutes later, Cooke got his 2nd goal of the night, floating to the edge of the crease where he was in perfect position to bang home a rebound and set up overtime.
After a back and forth overtime that was much more lively than the triple overtime marathon these two teams played on Thursday, Pascal Dupuis was the hero as he got ahold of a pass from center Jordan Staal and launched a rocket of a wrist shot as he fell to the ice that Leclaire never had a chance to stop.
Leclaire ended up with 39 saves in another strong performance, perhaps making a serious bid to regain the starting job that Brian Elliott had earned over the course of the regular season. Fleury looked much better than he did earlier in the series, although his rebound control was a bit off, and he finished the game with 28 saves.
