Dein erstes Forum » Craig Anderson stopped all three Carolina shooters

OTTAWA -- A week ago it was unthinkable, but the Ottawa Senators are back in playoff contention. Ales Hemsky scored the only goal of the shootout Monday night as the Senators earned a huge 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Hemsky moved in and fired a shot off the post and into the back of the net behind goaltender Cam Ward to give the Senators their third straight win, and fourth in their past fifth games. They have nine points over that stretch. As it stands now, the Senators are in 12th in the Eastern Conference four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who currently possess the second wild-card berth with 82 points. The Hurricanes are seven back. "All Im doing is going game-by-game still. We won today, now we have to get ready for Wednesday and again well see where we are at (in) 82 games," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. Craig Anderson stopped all three Carolina shooters, including Elias Lindholm with the final shot to earn the victory. Mika Zibanejad scored in regulation for the Senators (32-29-14) while Anderson made 30 saves. Jeff Skinner had the Carolina goal while Ward backstopped the Hurricanes (32-32-11) through regulation with 28 saves. Coincidental minor penalties in overtime meant the teams played two minutes of three-on-three hockey. Kyle Turris had the best opportunity for the Senators during that span but his shot went over the net. Alex Semin had Anderson beat on a two-on-one but his backhand went wide. "Structure wise we werent really sure what to do, but you need guys that are creative and are able to beat guys one-on-one because thats what it comes down to," Senators defenceman Marc Methot said of the rare three-on-three. "The guys handled it well." There was very little in the way of scoring opportunities through most of the third period. That changed in the final few minutes as both teams started to apply pressure as neither wanted the other to claim a bonus point in the tight playoff race. "There were definitely opportunities and a little spark at the end. The fans started getting into it knowing the pressure of the last five minutes and that any mistake could be in the back of the net," said Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal. "It raised the intensity of the game for sure." The way the first period started it seemed as though the goaltenders were going to have nightmares even before they went to bed. The score was tied 1-1 before the five-minute mark and the non-defensive style was allowing for several opportunities on both sides. Zibanejad opened the scoring at 1:41 of the first period when he deflected a Patrick Wiercioch point shot past Ward. The play was reviewed but quickly announced that the call on the ice stood and it was in fact a goal. "Youve got to look at it as a lucky break on their side, and just get ready for the next shot," Ward said of the goal. "The puck was bouncing a little more than I would have liked, but other than that we gave our team a chance to win. Unfortunately, it doesnt feel good to lose in a shootout." Zibanejad continues to improve on his career-high numbers as he now has 14 goals and 29 points in 64 games. "Lately weve been taking it one game at a time. Its cliche but we are. And were doing whatever we can to make sure we get the points," said Zibanejad. "The pressure is not on us, the pressure is on the teams above us and by winning were putting more pressure on them." It wasnt all good news for the Senators though as Erik Karlsson gave the puck away behind his own goal and then was the last player to touch it before it went into the back of the Ottawa goal behind Anderson. Karlsson tried to sweep the puck around the boards behind the net but fanned on his attempt, giving skinner possession of the puck behind the goal. He danced from side-to-side before banking the puck off Karlsson and in to tie the game at the 4:03 mark. Notes- Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan, Jared Cowen and Colin Greening were scratches for the Senators. Mike Komisarek, Radek Dvorak and Justin Peters were scratches for the HurricanesaThe Senators recalled Jean-Gabriel Pageau from Binghamton on MondayaSenators forward Kyle Turris was named the NHLs First Star of the Week Monday after collecting four goals and three assists in four gamesaJeff Skinner now has points in five straight games and recorded his 30th goal of the season MondayaThe Carolina Hurricanes are scheduled to play back-to-back games 20 times this season, second only to the Air Max 1 Wholesale . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. Air Max 97 Wholesale China . Sundays game against the Colorado Rapids at B.C. 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Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became much clearer.The Los Angeles Kings stormed back after falling behind 2-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring six straight goals to take Game Two, tying the series at one game apiece. Jeff Carter was the scoring force for the Kings, with a hat trick and an assist, all in the third period. Carter now has 16 points in 16 playoff games and, over the past three years, has 42 playoff points, ranking second only to Anze Kopitar. Carter is having success centering a line with rookies Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli on his wings. Pearson had a couple of assists in Game Two and Toffoli scored the Kings fourth goal. Pearson and Toffoli each have nine points in the postseason, one behind Nathan MacKinnon and Torey Krug for the rookie lead in the playoffs. Pearson has been particularly efficient in terms of points per minute of ice time. Chicago appeared to have the game well in hand, holding a 2-0 lead with a couple minutes left in the second period, but Justin Williams scored a goal off a seemingly inoccuous play to get the Kings on the board with 1:40 remaining in the second, then Los Angeles scored a pair of power play goals in the first 4:04 of the third period to turn the game upside down. Kings D Alec Martinez had an assist, but was also on the ice for 18 shot attempts for and seven against (72.0%) during 5-on-5 play. With Martinez off the ice, the Kings got 39.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. At the same time, the Kings top defence pairing of Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin were both on for less than 30% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5.dddddddddddd Chicagos possession leader was LW Brandon Saad (13 attempts for, four against, 76.5%), while RW Kris Versteeg and C Peter Regin were at the other end of the spectrum, both under 25% in possession terms. Kings G Jonathan Quick stopped 23 of 25 shots, making some crucial saves when the game was 2-0 for Chicago and a third goal might put the game out of reach. Blackhawks G Corey Crawford allowed five goals in a game for the first time since November 16. Its not a surprise that the Kings power play made a difference -- their 24.1% success rate in the playoffs is best among the final four teams -- but the surprise is seeing the Blackhawks penalty killing unit get lit up for a pair of goals. Prior to Game Two, Chicagos penalty kill had allowed four goals on 48 power plays, 91.7%, so to suddenly allow two within 2:27 in the third period was highly unusual -- Chicago had allowed two power play goals against once in the previous 61 (regular season plus playoff) games. While the manner in which it happened could be considered surprising, it should be expected that the Kings will give the Blackhawks all they can handle. These are two elite teams and neither figures to go quietly, but now the advantage goes to the Kings who, with the split in Chicago, have gained home-ice advantage. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '