GAME THREAD: NHL: OTTAWA (12-3) at ANAHEIM (12-4)

NHL: OTTAWA at ANAHEIM

<div class="pre">STANLEY CUP FINALS


** CONFIRMED **
NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS
OTTAWA 2
ANAHEIM 3</div>

 

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Good defense beats good offensemost of the time. When it chips in offensively, it wins everytime.

Linemates Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen kept Ottawa'shigh-scoring unit in check before combining for the winning goallate in the third period, giving the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2triumph over the Senators in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finalson Monday.

After containing the potent trio of Daniel Alfredsson, JasonSpezza and Dany Heatley, Niedermayer and Moen teamed up toprovide a series lead for the Ducks, who host Game Two onWednesday.

From the right point, Norris Trophy finalist Scott Niedermayerpushed the puck to brother Rob, who carried behind the net.After narrowly avoiding a crushing check from Ottawa defensemanAndrej Meszaros, Rob Niedermayer backhanded a bouncing puck toMoen, who swept it past goaltender Ray Emery low to the gloveside from in front with 2:51 remaining in the third for hisfifth playoff goal and a 3-2 advantage.

The tally held up as Anaheim thwarted a late charge by Ottawathat included a power play for the final 44 seconds.

All did not go well early for the Ducks, who added to theirleague-leading total of 96 times shorthanded by taking fivepenalties over the first two periods.

The Senators cashed in on their first power play of the game totake the lead. With Scott Niedermayer in the penalty box forhigh-sticking, Meszaros set up Mike Fisher, who unleashed aone-timer from the left faceoff dot.

Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere got a piece of the shot, butthe puck bounced into the air. Anaheim blue-liner SeanO'Donnell made an unsuccessful attempt to bat it away before itfell to the ice and trickled just inside the right goalpost 98seconds into the contest for a 1-0 lead.

The tally came on the first of just three shots in the period bythe Senators.

Emery made a big save on Corey Perry with 9 1/2 minutesremaining in the first period to preserve the advantage, butAndy McDonald drew Anaheim even shortly thereafter.

About to be checked into the left wing boards by Drew Miller,Senators defenseman Wade Redden turned over the puck to TeemuSelanne. The "Finnish Flash" quickly dished to McDonald, whobeat Emery with a snap shot from the inner edge of the leftcircle at 10:55 for his sixth goal of the postseason.

Rugged veteran Brad May nearly put the Ducks ahead with justover seven minutes to go, but his shot off a rebound in frontglided just wide of the right post.

Moments after fellow defenseman Joe Corvo hit the right post inthe second period, Redden atoned for his earlier miscue with aman-advantage goal at 4:36. From the blue line, the veteranblasted a shot that sailed past Giguere, who had his stickinadvertently knocked away by Scott Niedermayer prior to Corvo'schance.

Already down by a goal, Anaheim dodged a major bullet in themiddle session when Selke Trophy candidate Samuel Pahlsson wascalled for slashing just 25 seconds after defenseman FrancoisBeauchemin took a tripping penalty. But the Senators managedjust three shots on Giguere during the 5-on-3 while committing apair of turnovers.

The Ducks answered again less than six minutes into the third.After carrying the puck over the blue line, Perry completed apass to fellow 2003 first-round pick Ryan Getzlaf at the top ofthe right circle.

Second in the league with three game-winning goals thispostseason, Getzlaf drove to the net before slipping abackhander past Emery on the far side at 5:44, forging a 2-2tie.

Anaheim had a golden opportunity to move ahead with 10:24 left.Pahlsson delivered a heavy hit on Alfredsson just inside theSenators' blue line, knocking Ottawa's captain off the puck.

Pahlsson gained possession and passed to Moen, who was deniedfrom in front by Emery, keeping the contest even.

 

NHL: OTTAWA at ANAHEIM

<div class="pre">STANLEY CUP FINALS

------------------------------------
Ottawa 1 1 0 --2
Anaheim 1 0 2 --3
------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Mike Fisher 4 (power play) (Andrej
Meszaros, Mike Comrie), 1:38. 2, Anaheim, Andy Mcdonald 6 (Teemu
Selanne), 10:55. Penalties: S Niedermayer, Ana (high sticking), 0:53;
D Heatley, Ott (tripping), 2:34; R Jackman, Ana (roughing), 14:14.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Wade Redden 3 (power play) (Daniel
Alfredsson, Jason Spezza), 4:36. Penalties: W Redden, Ott (hooking),
0:59; R Getzlaf, Ana (cross checking), 3:52; F Beauchemin, Ana
(tripping), 6:34; S Pahlsson, Ana (slashing), 6:59.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf 6 (Corey Perry,
Richard Jackman), 5:44. 5, Anaheim, Travis Moen 5 (Rob Niedermayer,
Scott Niedermayer), 17:09. Penalties: C Schubert, Ott (slashing),
6:37; A Meszaros, Ott (interference), 10:03; S Niedermayer, Ana
(hooking), 13:08; C Pronger, Ana (hooking), 19:16.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
Ottawa 3 10 7 --20
Anaheim 8 10 14 --32
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Ottawa - 2 of 7, Anaheim - 0 of 4. Goalies :
Ottawa, Ray Emery (32 shots, 29 saves; record: 12-4-0). Anaheim,
Jean-Sebastien Giguere (20 shots, 18 saves; record: 10-3-0). A:
17,274. Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Paul Devorski. Linesmen: Jean
Morin, Shane Heyer.</div>

 

NHL: OTTAWA at ANAHEIM

<div class="pre">STANLEY CUP FINALS

-----------------------------------------
OTTAWA 1 1 0 --2
ANAHEIM 1 0 2 --3
-----------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Mike Fisher 4 (power play) (Andrej
Meszaros, Mike Comrie), 1:38. 2, Anaheim, Andy Mcdonald 6 (Teemu
Selanne), 10:55. Penalties: S Niedermayer, Ana (high sticking), 0:53;
D Heatley, Ott (tripping), 2:34; R Jackman, Ana (roughing), 14:14.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Wade Redden 3 (power play) (Daniel
Alfredsson, Jason Spezza), 4:36. Penalties: W Redden, Ott (hooking),
0:59; R Getzlaf, Ana (cross checking), 3:52; F Beauchemin, Ana
(tripping), 6:34; S Pahlsson, Ana (slashing), 6:59.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf 6 (Corey Perry,
Richard Jackman), 5:44. 5, Anaheim, Travis Moen 5 (Rob Niedermayer,
Scott Niedermayer), 17:09. Penalties: C Schubert, Ott (slashing),
6:37; A Meszaros, Ott (interference), 10:03; S Niedermayer, Ana
(hooking), 13:08; C Pronger, Ana (hooking), 19:16.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
OTTAWA 3 10 7 --20
ANAHEIM 8 10 14 --32
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: OTT - 2 of 7, ANA - 0 of 4. Goalies : Ottawa,
Ray Emery (32 shots, 29 saves; record: 12-4-0). Anaheim,
Jean-Sebastien Giguere (20 shots, 18 saves; record: 10-3-0). A:
17,274. Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Paul Devorski. Linesmen: Jean
Morin, Shane Heyer.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

OTTAWA ANAHEIM
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
D Alfredsson 0 1 -1 2 C Perry 0 1 +1 3
M Fisher 1 0 -1 3 R Getzlaf 1 0 +1 3
A Meszaros 0 1 -2 0 D Penner 0 0 even 1
D Heatley 0 0 -1 1 A Miller 0 0 +1 1
J Spezza 0 1 -1 2 A McDonald 1 0 +1 3
A Vermette 0 0 even 0 S O'Donnell 0 0 +1 0
C Kelly 0 0 even 1 T Marchant 0 0 even 1
A Volchenkov 0 0 -1 1 F Beauchemin 0 0 even 3
C Neil 0 0 even 2 B May 0 0 +1 1
P Schaefer 0 0 -1 0 C Pronger 0 0 +2 2
D McAmmond 0 0 -1 0 S Pahlsson 0 0 +1 4
C Phillips 0 0 even 1 S Niedermayer 0 1 +1 0
T Preissing 0 0 even 1 T Moen 1 0 +1 2
P Eaves 0 0 -1 2 K Huskins 0 0 +1 0
C Schubert 0 0 -1 1 R Niedermayer 0 1 +1 6
W Redden 1 0 -3 1 S Thornton 0 0 even 0
J Corvo 0 0 even 2 R Jackman 0 1 +1 0
M Comrie 0 1 -1 0 T Selanne 0 1 +1 2
O Saprykin HEALTHY J DiPenta HEALTHY
B McGrattan HEALTHY S Caron HEALTHY
L Nycholat HEALTHY R Carter HEALTHY
M Hartigan HEALTHY
A Rome HEALTHY
G Parros HEALTHY
J Motzko HEALTHY
C Kunitz RIGHT HAND
R Shannon HEALTHY</div>

 

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Good defense beats good offensemost of the time. When it chips in offensively, it wins everytime.

Linemates Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen kept Ottawa'shigh-scoring unit in check before combining for the winning goallate in the third period, giving the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2triumph over the Senators in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finalson Monday.

After containing the potent trio of Daniel Alfredsson, JasonSpezza and Dany Heatley, Niedermayer and Moen teamed up toprovide a series lead for the Ducks, who host Game Two onWednesday.

"Clearly, 5-on-5, we played well," Moen said. "We played theway we wanted to, physical. Nothing too pretty, lots of chipsand dumps."

"Their checking line played head-to-head with our (big) guys,and they ended up getting the winning goal," Ottawa coach BryanMurray said. "That's the whole game in a nutshell."

From the right point, Norris Trophy finalist Scott Niedermayerpushed the puck to brother Rob, who carried behind the net.After narrowly avoiding a crushing check from Ottawa defensemanAndrej Meszaros, Rob Niedermayer backhanded a bouncing puck toMoen, who swept it past goaltender Ray Emery low to the gloveside from in front with 2:51 remaining in the third for hisfifth playoff goal and a 3-2 advantage.

"(The puck) was kind of bouncing and I got lucky and caught iton the way down," Moen said. "Got a lucky shot and it went in.It was huge. ... I think every kid dreams of scoring a goal towin a game in the Stanley Cup Finals. It's something specialand something I'll never forget."

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle credited the offensive effort of hischecking line.

"The old adage is, 'A good defense is offense,'" he said. "Ifyou can keep the other team in their defensive zone, then youdon't have to worry about them scoring against you. A key tothe (Samuel) Pahlsson line, with (Rob) Niedermayer and Moen, isthat they cycle the puck well. And if they can have puckpossession in the offensive zone, usually it leads to momentumand sometimes it draws penalties."

The tally held up as Anaheim thwarted a late charge by Ottawathat included a power play for the final 44 seconds.

All did not go well early for the Ducks, who added to theirleague-leading total of 96 times shorthanded by taking fivepenalties over the first two periods.

The Senators cashed in on their first power play of the game totake the lead. With Scott Niedermayer in the penalty box forhigh-sticking, Meszaros set up Mike Fisher, who unleashed aone-timer from the left faceoff dot.

Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere got a piece of the shot, butthe puck bounced into the air. Anaheim blue-liner SeanO'Donnell made an unsuccessful attempt to bat it away before itfell to the ice and trickled just inside the right goalpost 98seconds into the contest for a 1-0 lead.

The tally came on the first of just three shots in the period bythe Senators.

Emery made a big save on Corey Perry with 9 1/2 minutesremaining in the first period to preserve the advantage, butAndy McDonald drew Anaheim even shortly thereafter.

About to be checked into the left wing boards by Drew Miller,Senators defenseman Wade Redden turned over the puck to TeemuSelanne. The "Finnish Flash" quickly dished to McDonald, whobeat Emery with a snap shot from the inner edge of the leftcircle at 10:55 for his sixth goal of the postseason.

A sixth-round pick in 2003 and the younger brother of BuffaloSabres goalie Ryan Miller, 23-year-old Drew Miller was playingin just his second NHL game.

"I certainly give him credit to come in and play like that,"McDonald said. "It's probably not easy. I'm sure he was prettynervous, but he did a really good job. ... On the goal, he wentin and made contact, and they turned the puck over. He wasstrong for us tonight."

Rugged veteran Brad May nearly put the Ducks ahead with justover seven minutes to go, but his shot off a rebound in frontglided just wide of the right post.

"They came hard," Fisher said of Anaheim's play in the first."We knew that was going to happen. We knew they were gong tocome hard, and we knew we'd get our chances, too."

Moments after fellow defenseman Joe Corvo hit the right post inthe second period, Redden atoned for his earlier miscue with aman-advantage goal at 4:36. From the blue line, the veteranblasted a shot that sailed past Giguere, who had his stickinadvertently knocked away by Scott Niedermayer prior to Corvo'schance.

Already down by a goal, Anaheim dodged a major bullet in themiddle session when Selke Trophy candidate Pahlsson was calledfor slashing just 25 seconds after defenseman FrancoisBeauchemin took a tripping penalty. But the Senators managedjust three shots on Giguere during the 5-on-3 while committing apair of turnovers.

The Ducks answered again less than six minutes into the third.After carrying the puck over the blue line, Perry completed apass to fellow 2003 first-round pick Ryan Getzlaf at the top ofthe right circle.

Second in the league with three game-winning goals thispostseason, Getzlaf drove to the net before slipping abackhander past Emery on the far side at 5:44, forging a 2-2tie.

"Not too many players can score that type of goal," Carlylesaid.

Anaheim had a golden opportunity to move ahead with 10:24 left.Pahlsson delivered a heavy hit on Alfredsson just inside theSenators' blue line, knocking Ottawa's captain off the puck.

Pahlsson gained possession and passed to Moen, who was deniedfrom in front by Emery, keeping the contest even.

Emery finished with 29 saves for the Senators, who went 2-for-7on the power play to snap an 0-for-16 drought.

"Emery played real well, real well," Murray said. "I thought hemade some stops. He was very effective through the night. Hegot slashed I don't know how many times after the fact. But thebottom line is, he made some stops."

Alfredsson and Spezza each had an assist, while Heatley was keptoff the scoresheet. Spezza's assist was his 21st point of theplayoffs, tying him with Heatley for the scoring lead.

"We had a couple of good shifts," Alfredsson said. "But we cando a little bit better with the puck, make some smarter plays.I think we made it a little bit too easy for them tonight."

"They did a good job checking," Spezza added. "It's not so muchwhat they did, it's what we didn't do as a line. We didn'thave as much jump. When you don't have jump and you're not hardon pucks, you don't get as many chances."

 

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Good defense beats good offensemost of the time. When it chips in offensively, it wins everytime.

Linemates Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen kept Ottawa'shigh-scoring unit in check before combining for the winning goallate in the third period, giving the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2triumph over the Senators in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finalson Monday.

After containing the potent trio of Daniel Alfredsson, JasonSpezza and Dany Heatley, Niedermayer and Moen teamed up toprovide a series lead for the Ducks, who host Game Two onWednesday.

"Clearly, 5-on-5, we played well," Moen said. "We played theway we wanted to, physical. Nothing too pretty, lots of chipsand dumps."

"Their checking line played head-to-head with our (big) guys,and they ended up getting the winning goal," Ottawa coach BryanMurray said. "That's the whole game in a nutshell."

From the right point, Norris Trophy finalist Scott Niedermayerpushed the puck to brother Rob, who carried behind the net.After narrowly avoiding a crushing check from Ottawa defensemanAndrej Meszaros, Rob Niedermayer backhanded a bouncing puck toMoen, who swept it past goaltender Ray Emery low to the gloveside from in front with 2:51 remaining in the third for hisfifth playoff goal and a 3-2 advantage.

"(The puck) was kind of bouncing and I got lucky and caught iton the way down," Moen said. "Got a lucky shot and it went in.It was huge. ... I think every kid dreams of scoring a goal towin a game in the Stanley Cup Finals. It's something specialand something I'll never forget."

"The puck was kind of rolling when I gave it to him," RobNiedermayer said. "He made a great play to knock it down, andhe picked the corner. He deserves it. He's a prettyhard-working guy out there. It was nice to see for him."

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle credited the offensive effort of hischecking line.

"The old adage is, 'A good defense is offense,'" he said. "Ifyou can keep the other team in their defensive zone, then youdon't have to worry about them scoring against you. A key tothe (Samuel) Pahlsson line, with (Rob) Niedermayer and Moen, isthat they cycle the puck well. And if they can have puckpossession in the offensive zone, usually it leads to momentumand sometimes it draws penalties."

The tally held up as Anaheim thwarted a late charge by Ottawathat included a power play for the final 44 seconds.

All did not go well early for the Ducks, who added to theirleague-leading total of 96 times shorthanded by taking fivepenalties over the first two periods.

"Some of the calls were tough," Scott Niedermayer said. "Yousaw them, so I don't have to say anything about them."

The Senators cashed in on their first power play of the game totake the lead. With Scott Niedermayer in the penalty box forhigh-sticking, Meszaros set up Mike Fisher, who unleashed aone-timer from the left faceoff dot.

Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere got a piece of the shot, butthe puck bounced into the air. Anaheim blue-liner SeanO'Donnell made an unsuccessful attempt to bat it away before itfell to the ice and trickled just inside the right goalpost 98seconds into the contest for a 1-0 lead.

"The puck went off my glove and kind of popped up into the air,"Giguere said. "I had lost my stick, and it was kind of adistraction trying to get it. The next thing I knew, he wasshooting the puck.

"Bounces are part of the game. You've got to deal with it rightaway and just move on. And goals are going to happen. As agoalie, when you give (up) a goal, you have to focus on the nextshot. I was early in the game, so we kept our heads up."

O'Donnell, who appeared in the Finals with New Jersey in 2001,blamed himself for the goal.

"I'd like to have that one back," he said. "I saw it there (inthe air), and I just tried to whack it out. I didn't touch it.I should have taken a deep breath and tried to swat it away."

The tally came on the first of just three shots in the period bythe Senators.

Emery made a big save on Corey Perry with 9 1/2 minutesremaining in the first period to preserve the advantage, butAndy McDonald drew Anaheim even shortly thereafter.

About to be checked into the left wing boards by Drew Miller,Senators defenseman Wade Redden turned over the puck to TeemuSelanne. The "Finnish Flash" quickly dished to McDonald, whobeat Emery with a snap shot from the inner edge of the leftcircle at 10:55 for his sixth goal of the postseason.

A sixth-round pick in 2003 and the younger brother of BuffaloSabres goalie Ryan Miller, 23-year-old Drew Miller was playingin just his second NHL game.

"I certainly give him credit to come in and play like that,"McDonald said. "It's probably not easy. I'm sure he was prettynervous, but he did a really good job. ... On the goal, he wentin and made contact, and they turned the puck over. He wasstrong for us tonight."

Rugged veteran Brad May nearly put the Ducks ahead with justover seven minutes to go, but his shot off a rebound in frontglided just wide of the right post.

"They came hard," Fisher said of Anaheim's play in the first."We knew that was going to happen. We knew they were gong tocome hard, and we knew we'd get our chances, too."

Moments after fellow defenseman Joe Corvo hit the right post inthe second period, Redden atoned for his earlier miscue with aman-advantage goal at 4:36. From the blue line, the veteranblasted a shot that sailed past Giguere, who had his stickinadvertently knocked away by Scott Niedermayer prior to Corvo'schance.

Already down by a goal, Anaheim dodged a major bullet in themiddle session when Selke Trophy candidate Pahlsson was calledfor slashing just 25 seconds after defenseman FrancoisBeauchemin took a tripping penalty. But the Senators managedjust three shots on Giguere during the 5-on-3 while committing apair of turnovers.

"We've got to be careful with the penalties," Giguere said."Throughout the playoffs, we've taken too many penalties, andagain tonight. We cannot always blame the referee for that. Wehave to look at ourselves in the mirror and see what we can dobetter."

The Ducks answered again less than six minutes into the third.After carrying the puck over the blue line, Perry completed apass to fellow 2003 first-round pick Ryan Getzlaf at the top ofthe right circle.

Second in the league with three game-winning goals thispostseason, Getzlaf drove to the net before slipping abackhander past Emery on the far side at 5:44, forging a 2-2tie.

"Not too many players can score that type of goal," Carlylesaid.

"We're a team that isn't going to give up," Scott Niedermayersaid. "We're not going to stop just because we're down by agoal, and we've found ways to get back into games. You have todo that because you're not always going to be ahead. You haveto find ways to win."

Anaheim had a golden opportunity to move ahead with 10:24 left.Pahlsson delivered a heavy hit on Alfredsson just inside theSenators' blue line, knocking Ottawa's captain off the puck.

Pahlsson gained possession and passed to Moen, who was deniedfrom in front by Emery, keeping the contest even.

Emery finished with 29 saves for the Senators, who went 2-for-7on the power play to snap an 0-for-16 drought.

"Emery played real well, real well," Murray said. "I thought hemade some stops. He was very effective through the night. Hegot slashed I don't know how many times after the fact. But thebottom line is, he made some stops."

Alfredsson and Spezza each had an assist, while Heatley was keptoff the scoresheet. Spezza's assist was his 21st point of theplayoffs, tying him with Heatley for the scoring lead.

"We had a couple of good shifts," Alfredsson said. "But we cando a little bit better with the puck, make some smarter plays. Ithink we made it a little bit too easy for them tonight."

"They did a good job checking," Spezza added. "It's not so muchwhat they did, it's what we didn't do as a line. We didn'thave as much jump. When you don't have jump and you're not hardon pucks, you don't get as many chances."

Giguere turned aside 18 shots for Anaheim, which improved to 4-0all-time at home in the Stanley Cup Finals.

"I think we should be happy with this effort," Giguere said. "Ithink we were a little nervous in the beginning. But we wantedto get a big win out of this game, and we should be happy."