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April 23, 2010
Matt Carkner #39 of the Ottawa Senators is mobbed by teammates after scoring the game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third overtime period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Mellon Arena on April 22, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Senators defeated the Penguins 4-3 in triple overtime.
Photograph by: Justin K. Aller, Getty Images
PITTSBURGH — They were left for dead, but aren't dead yet.The Ottawa Senators, led by by the most unlikely of heroes -- remember Pascal Leclaire? -- forced a Game 6 with a steal-your-breath, 4-3, triple-overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Matt Carkner scored the winner on a deflected shot at 7:06 of the third overtime period to end a crazy night that included three disputed goal calls and brilliant goaltending, especially in overtime.
It was the longest overtime in franchise history. Gary Roberts of the Toronto Maple Leafs scored at 4:30 of triple overtime to beat Ottawa in a 2002 playoff game.
For the Senators, all was well that didn't end their season.
Just wondering. Can the Senators decline Saturday's home date and play the rest of this playoff series in Pittsburgh?
They do their best work here, stunning the Stanley Cup champion Penguins in Games 1 and 5 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal.As was the case last night, the Senators must win Saturday to stay in. A victory at Scotiabank Place would force a Game 7 here on Tuesday.
Head coach Cory Clouston had a surprise for media after the Senators morning skate. Leclaire, the forgotten man in the white-black-and-red striped goalie pads, would start the most important game of Ottawa's season. Leclaire, 27, from Repentigny, had won just one game in the 2010 calendar year. He was relegated to backing up Brian Elliott back in the fall, and even then couldn't escape bad luck, suffering a fractured cheekbone while sitting next to the players bench on Nov. 25.
He missed 16 games with that injury and nine more from a concussion he incurred on Jan. 14.
Barely involved down the stretch, Leclaire was shelled 5-2 by the Buffalo Sabres on the final game of the regular season, and allowed three goals in relief in Pittsburgh's Game 4 rout. That was his first career playoff experience, which left him unfazed by the fuss.
"It's the same game, there's just more people in the stands -- and they have pom-poms," Leclaire said, with a wide smile, prior to Game 5.Centre Mike Fisher best summed up the organizational decision to go with Leclaire, despite the risk of rust.
"When he's on, he's on." Fisher said. "He has a chance to steal games." It figured he would have to steal one if Ottawa was going to extend the series, and he faced 42 shots in regulation alone, snaring pucks with his quick glove.
After the Senators got the lead, they kept their game simple, dumped pucks and sacrificed their bodies to block shots.
"I expect a tighter game," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma had rightly predicted. "I think it's going to be more like Game 2 (a 2-1 Penguins win)."
Leclaire stopped nine of 10 shots in the first period while his teammates were staking him to a lead.
Asked what the Penguins would expect from the Senators, Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby was pointed.
"Their best," he said. "In that position, they have no choice but to be desperate." Their case wasn't nearly as desperate when Leclaire stopped eight of nine shots in the first period while his teammates were staking him to an early lead.
Mike Fisher opened the scoring on the power play, on a shot that ricocheted like a pinball before crossing the goal line.
The towel-waving fans grew even quieter after the Senators jumped to a two-goal lead, thanks to Nick Foligno easily beating plodding defenceman Jay McKee to a puck along the wall. Foligno worked the puck behind the net before feeding Jarkko Ruutu in front for a shot between Fleury's pads.
Up to this point, the Penguins and their fans appeared guilty of celebrating their series victory before it happened, but the quick Ottawa goals served as a slap in the face. A wake-up call for the reigning champions.
With less than two minutes left in the first, the Penguins cut the lead in half with a power play goal, as Kris Letang beat Leclaire with a high shot over the right shoulder.
Now the house was into it and so was the bench, but it took a controversial goal in the final minute, 26 seconds of the second period for Pittsburgh to come back. A goal by Chris Kunitz was waved off by on-ice officials, ruling the net had been knocked off its moorings as the puck crossed the line. After video review, that decision was reversed and the Penguins went to the dressing room with a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes.
Badly outshot in the second half of regulation, the Senators turned the tables in overtime, outshooting the Penguins in the first extra period.
Crosby might have had the game winner in regulation, sliding on his backside while giving Pittsburgh a 3-2 third period lead at 9:01. But when his team needed a small miracle, Ottawa's most dangerous shooter, Peter Regin, tied it less than 90 seconds later, beating Fleury on a slapshot.
Overtime loomed. The Senators were alive, past 11 p.m., and that was a bonus. The final goal was a double bonus.Now who's feeling the heat?
The Penguins have a recent history of failing to close out series. They are 2-5 in the past seven games in which they had a chance to finish off a team prior to Game 7.
They'll get one more chance to avoid Game 7 on Saturday, which is also the Senators next chance to avoid a sudden end.
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