Oct 5, 2008 - 6:00 PM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
OTTAWA 3, PITTSBURGH 1 ----------------------
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Ticker) -- Dany Heatley continued his impressive run against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Ottawa Senators' superstar recorded a goal in his 14th consecutive game against the defending Eastern Conference champions and Alex Auld came within two seconds of a shutout en route to a 3-1 triumph over the Penguins.
Heatley netted power-play goals midway through the second and third periods and Antoine Vermette also tallied for Ottawa, which salvaged a split of the two-game series at the Globe Arena as part of NHL Premiere 2008.
Swede Daniel Alfredsson had two assists and defenseman Filip Kuba notched two assists for the second consecutive game for the Senators, who were swept by the Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last season.
Alex Goligoski scored with two seconds remaining in the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 24 saves for Pittsburgh.
Playing in place of Martin Gerber, Auld stopped his first 30 shots to keep the high-powered Penguins off the scoresheet.
Gerber struggled in the season-opener, allowing four goals - including Tyler Kennedy's game-winner with 25 seconds remaining in overtime in a 4-3 loss on Saturday. He finished with 26 saves.
Heatley, who also had a goal on Saturday, accepted a centering feed from Spezza and slipped the puck past Fleury to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead with 6:53 remaining in the second period.
He doubled the advantage with 7:43 remaining in the third, and Vermette extended the lead to three just 3 1/2 minutes later.
NY RANGERS 2, TAMPA BAY 1 -------------------------
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Ticker) -- Scott Gomez and defenseman Wade Redden recorded a goal and an assist apiece as the New York Rangers notched their second consecutive 2-1 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Henrik Lundqvist finished with 18 saves for New York, which completed a two-game sweep at the O2 Arena as part of NHL Premiere 2008.
The Rangers, who held a 39-19 advantage in shots, enjoyed an 80-40 edge in the brief series.
Former Ranger Adam Hall scored and veteran goaltender Olaf Kolzig made 37 saves for Tampa Bay, which finished the 2007-08 season with an NHL-worst 31 wins.
With the game tied at 1-1 with 7:48 remaining in the second period, Gomez received a brilliant feed at the side of the net from Aaron Voros. Gomez promptly tapped it in for his first goal of the season.
Gomez's goal came nearly 8 1/2 minutes after Redden leveled the contest just 3:47 into the second period.
The former Ottawa Senators blue-liner accepted a centering feed from Markus Naslund and blasted a shot past Kolzig for his first goal as a member of the Rangers.
Hall opened the scoring with 1:43 remaining in the first period.
After winning the faceoff in the offensive end, Hall drove to the net and redirected a shot from the point by defenseman Andrej Meszaros past Lundqvist for his first goal of the season. Hall played 49 games for the Rangers in the 2006-07 season.
