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Pahlsson solves Emery late as Ducks take 2-0 Finals lead

May 31, 2007 - 4:38 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Samuel Pahlsson must have been jealous of linemate Travis Moen.

Pahlsson scored at 14:16 of the third period and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 16 saves as the Anaheim Ducks posted a 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday to take a two-games-to-none lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The series shifts to Scotiabank Place for Game Three on Saturday.

"It's a place where we're really tough to play against and we feel confident," Senators goaltender Ray Emery said. "As much as you would have liked to come away here with a win, we battled hard, we took the body tonight, I thought, especially well and hopefully broke them down to bring them back to our building."

"It's the Stanley Cup Finals, it's not going to be easy," Ottawa's Dany Heatley added. "We obviously put ourselves in a 2-0 hole here, but we're going home Saturday. We have two days to get ready for it and come out in front of our fans."

In Game One, Pahlsson watched as checking-line mate Moen snapped a 2-2 tie late in the third to give the Ducks a triumph. This time, the Selke Trophy finalist decided to steal the spotlight.

"They spark us. They did an unbelievable job tonight," Anaheim right wing Teemu Selanne said of the team's checking unit. "I don't know what to say about those guys. They've been unbelievable all year. I'm happy that so many more people are getting to see how good they are (in the Finals)."

Heatley turned over the puck in the neutral zone to Pahlsson, who carried down the right wing. Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson elected to let his fellow Swede skate by untouched at the blue line, and it proved to be a crucial error in judgment.

After pulling up in the right faceoff circle, Pahlsson wristed a shot between the legs of defenseman Joe Corvo. The puck sailed past Emery and just inside the left goalpost for Pahlsson's third goal of the postseason and second game-winner.

"I skated down the wing and stepped once inside and shot it through the legs of the defenseman," said Pahlsson, who also netted the series clincher in Game Six of the Western Conference finals against Detroit. "That's what we try to do all the time, we try to make them turn the puck over. That's the best possible scenario for us, to get turnovers on the blue line."

"Sitting on the bench in the third period, we felt that if we kept on playing our game - getting the puck in deep, playing physical, cycling the puck - that we would eventually get a puck by them," Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said.

Pahlsson also won 10 of the 12 faceoffs he took, but he was more thrilled with the team win than any individual accomplishments.

"Of course, it's fun to score the goal," he said. "The most important thing is to win the game, but it's great to score the goal. But it's always about winning in the playoffs. It doesn't really matter who does it."

"It was a great shot," Senators coach Bryan Murray said. "He got Corvo turned around. He tried to do something with his stick, got spun and (Pahlsson) used Corvo as a screen and hit inside the post. Great shot. Good play on his part."

Giguere turned aside seven shots in the first period, four in the second and five in the third for his first shutout this postseason and sixth of his playoff career.

"I don't know how much more I can say about this guy," Selanne said. "He's unbelievable. The bigger challenge for him, the better he plays."

The Senators came out fast and hard in the first period, delivering a number of crunching checks on the physically superior Ducks. Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer was crushed in the opening minute, while Chris Kelly hammered Corey Perry with a bruising hit along the boards.

"I thought we got some great hits right off the bat," Murray said. "We had some tempo and motion and we skated better. Unfortunately, we didn't get many chances on goal, but there was some energy in the building and there was some energy in our dressing room."

Mike Comrie also got into the act but was a bit overzealous, as his hit on defenseman Francois Beauchemin just 2:17 into the opening period earned him a boarding penalty.

It was the first of three calls against Ottawa, which also had three power plays in the period, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 67 seconds. The Senators generated the majority of their chances with the man advantage, recording six of their seven shots in the session with the extra skater.

"I hadn't had many shots at that point, and I just wanted to make sure that I would approach it with a lot of energy," Giguere said of the 5-on-3. "I just tried to go through it as good as I could. I was able to do the first save and guys were on the rebound right away. We got pretty fortunate that we were able to get out of that one with no goal."

It was the second time in as many games the Ducks were forced to kill a 5-on-3 of more than a minute. In the series opener, the Senators had a two-man advantage for 95 seconds but could not convert.

"Someone said a long time ago, if you don't score on those, it comes back to bite you," Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden said. "We've had our chances in the last two games and haven't (scored). It would have made a huge difference in the outcome."

"We have to stop taking penalties like that, especially going down 5-on-3," Giguere said. "We can't afford to do that every game. It's going to end up costing us some goals eventually."

The Ducks, who improved to 11-2 in one-goal games this postseason, had plenty of opportunities in the first 20 minutes but were unable to get anything past Emery, who left quite a few juicy rebounds. Selanne was denied on a rebound chance from in front just 32 seconds into the contest, and Ryan Getzlaf had his shot from in close with 11 1/2 minutes remaining turned aside.

Emery had another busy period in the second as the Ducks outshot the Senators, 14-4. But again, Anaheim could not break through, hurting its own chance when Andy McDonald negated a power play by taking a hooking penalty with 24 seconds to go.

"They played well, but even though they had puck possession, we did a good job keeping them to the outside," Emery said. "It's not like (they had) 2-on-1s or breakaways or anything like that. It was straight shots. They got a lot of traffic, but we still did a good job of defensive-zone coverage."

"I don't know whether it was a close game or not," Murray said. "We had some chances, (but) they outshot us. But I thought overall, we skated better, at least."

Comrie, who was dazed by an elbow from Beauchemin in the second session, had an opportunity to cash in during the man advantage, but his wrister at 85 seconds into the third was stopped by Giguere.

With a surplus of fans from his native Finland in attendance, Selanne nearly snapped the scoreless tie two minutes later with a redirection at the top of the crease. But the puck hit the crossbar and fell into the blue paint before Emery smothered it with his glove.

Although split up at times Wednesday, the Senators' top line of Alfredsson, Heatley and Jason Spezza again was kept off the scoresheet at even strength. The trio, which recorded two power-play assists in Game One, had been held without a point just one previous time this postseason - Game Four of the Eastern Conference finals against Buffalo.

"I was trying to get Alfredsson with (Mike) Fisher at parts of the game to get away from the checking (line) and the pair of defensemen that they like to play against the Spezza line," Murray said. "That's basically it. ... We had some good shifts, but obviously, when you don't score goals, it means very little."

"We're not going to score every night," Heatley said. "We'd like to, obviously. We just have to keep doing what we do best, generate chances. They have a very defensive style, very good checking line, good defensemen. It's up to us to find ways to score goals."

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle was not surprised by the in-game line switches of his counterpart.

"In this game, when you're at this juncture of the season, you have to be prepared to make adjustments," Carlyle said. "They made an adjustment, and then we tried to counter. That's part of the game. That's part of the strategy that you put in place."