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Neil snaps Sens to series-tying victory in OT

Apr 15, 2012 - 5:41 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Chris Neil scored just 77 seconds into overtime as the Ottawa Senators took a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

After a left circle faceoff win, Ottawa put a flurry of shots on net, but Henrik Lundqvist was able to weather the initial storm. However, the Senators kept it in the zone and a blast from Jared Cowen was blocked by a Ranger, but Neil was at the left side to snap it home.

"There are going to be bad bounces, but you just have to move on," Lundqvist said. "They're a good team and create a lot of chances. I knew going into this series it wasn't going to be easy, so we just have to forget about this one and get ready for the next one."

Erik Karlsson and Nick Foligno scored the other two goals while Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots for the eighth-seeded Senators, who evened this best-of-seven series at 1-1 and will look to gain the lead on Monday in Game 3 from Canada's capital.

"That's playoff hockey," Senators center Jason Spezza said. "It's big goals from different guys and it's going to be like that. That's how we want to play. That's how we have to play to have success."

Lundqvist made 29 saves while Brain Boyle and Anton Stralman each lit the lamp for the Rangers, who are the top seed in the East and are looking for their first playoff series victory since 2008.

The sparks flew early in this game as Matt Carkner and Boyle came together in the corner boards in the Ottawa end. Carkner pummeled Boyle with several punches and New York's Brandon Dubinsky came to the rescue of his teammate.

After the players were separated, both Carkner and Dubinsky were thrown out of the game and the Rangers wound up with a five-minute power play, but were unable to take advantage.

The Rangers, though, did score halfway through the first on the power play when Dan Girardi made a pass from the top of the left circle over to the right circle where Stralman blasted a shot that trickled past Anderson.

Lundqvist, who made 10 stops in the first, made a nice stop on Nick Foligno down low with about a minute to play and Anderson stopped Ryan Callahan moments later.

Ottawa finally tied the game with 6:10 to play in the second while on the man advantage. Karlsson skated the puck all the way down to the right side of the net and threw a centering pass out front. The disc hit off the skate of Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto and snuck past Lundqvist.

New York took a 2-1 lead 2:41 into the third as Ruslan Fedotenko skated the puck down to the left circle and passed it back up to the high slot where Boyle beat Anderson with a high wrister.

The Senators tied the game with 4:37 to play in the third as Zenon Konopka was able to get the puck down low and from there Foligno slammed it into the net.

Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson was knocked out of the game at 10:32 of the second period after Rangers forward Carl Hagelin drove Alfredsson's head into the glass. Hagelin, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty, is expected to have a hearing before the NHL on Sunday.

Game Notes

Ottawa took three of four from the Rangers during the regular season...It is the first time these two clubs are meeting in the playoffs...Each team went 1- for-4 on the power play...It was the sixth straight time that the Rangers lost an overtime playoff game.