PITTSBURGH – Bobby Ryan scored at 4:59 of overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Ryan came out of a tangle along the right-wing boards for a short breakaway and roofed a shot past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
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The Senators are 6-1 in overtime in the post-season while Pittsburgh is 1-1 in extra time.
Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins started the night leading the playoffs with 41 goals for, 3.4 per game, and have the leading scorer in the post-season in Evgeni Malkin, who began the night with 18 points.
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But for more than two periods Ottawa stood firm and killed off all five Pittsburgh power plays during regulation.
Pittsburgh had 5:50 of power-play time in the first, including 45 seconds of 5-on-3 play, but it was Ottawa that scored first.
From behind the Penguins net after a turnover by Pittsburgh defenceman Brian Dumoulin, Ryan sent a soft backhander out front to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who one-timed the puck past the glove of Fleury at 14:32.
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It was Pageau’s eighth goal, one behind playoff leader Jake Guentzel of Pittsburgh. Pageau had 12 goals during the regular season.
The assist was Ryan’s seventh of the playoffs after he had 12 during the regular season.
The Senators thought they might have taken a 2-0 lead at 12:48 of the second on a wraparound play by Alexandre Burrows. The puck snuck its way past Fleury at the right post, but it was reviewed and ruled the whistle blew first.
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Malkin tied it 1-1 at 14:25 of the third on a tip-in from Chris Kunitz for his 19th point. It also lifted Malkin past Jaromir Jagr into third place on Pittsburgh’s all-time playoff points list with 148.
That ruined goalie Craig Anderson‘s shot at his second shutout of the playoffs.
This is the fifth playoff series between the clubs. Pittsburgh has won three of four and three straight.
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