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Senators erupt early, hold on to top Devils

Apr 27, 2007 - 3:28 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils came out dazed and confused. The Ottawa Senators left with home-ice advantage in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Defenseman Joe Corvo, Dean McAmmond and Dany Heatley scored unassisted tallies in a four-goal first period as the Senators held on for a 5-4 victory over the Devils in the opener of the best-of-seven series.

Game Two is Saturday in New Jersey.

Ottawa had six days off after dispatching Pittsburgh in five games in the conference quarterfinals. But it was New Jersey that looked disoriented in the early going as the Senators scored four times on their first eight shots against future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.

"I don't think we showed much rust, but they did a little bit," Corvo said. "I think they were just kind of watching. We were all over them."

Jason Spezza had Ottawa's other goal in the first period, one of the worst in Brodeur's 13-year career. Then again, he did not get a lot of help.

"It's everything - nerves, everything," said Devils defenseman Colin White, who returned to the lineup after missing four games with a back injury. "But the bottom line is, we didn't come out the way we wanted to. ... We're not making excuses, we're not looking for excuses. We know we didn't play well. We started sluggish and that's that. It's definitely a period we'd like to have back."

It was just the second time the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has allowed four tallies in one period during the postseason. He yielded four against Toronto in Game Two of the 2001 conference semifinals, but New Jersey went on to post a 6-5 overtime victory.

"You play with fire when you turn the puck over a lot," Brodeur said. "When they score four goals, it's kind of tough to get into a rhythm."

The Devils roared back and climbed within 4-3 in the second period, but defenseman Wade Redden scored on the power play in the opening minute of the third as the Senators improved to 3-0 on the road in the postseason.

"I had a few one-time shots from the point, but Marty made some big saves most of the time. But I think (on that one) there was traffic in front," Redden said.

Spezza got the Senators going just 90 seconds into the game, when he got a piece of defenseman Tom Preissing's slap shot from the right point and redirected it past Brodeur for his third playoff goal.

With New Jersey's Mike Rupp in the penalty box for interference, Corvo wristed a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that tipped off the bottom of Brodeur's glove and into the net at 6:49 for a shorthanded tally.

The Devils were on the power play just under eight minutes later when Ray Emery came up with back-to-back stops on Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. The Senators netminder spun and managed to get the paddle of his stick on a rebound chance by Gionta, who appeared to have an empty net at which to shoot.

"He made a save with the butt-end of his stick somehow. He jumped back across and got a piece of it," Gionta said. "It was a turning point."

Seconds later, McAmmond picked off a lazy behind-the-back pass by Brian Rafalski, deked around the Devils defenseman and snapped a shot from the high slot over Brodeur's glove for his second playoff tally.

"I was kind of flopping around there and (then) we turned the puck over and Deano went down and scored," said Emery, who made 26 saves. "It feels good when you make a save and the boys kind of reward you for it."

Heatley continued the carnage less than two minutes later. After blocking a shot inside his own blue line, he broke down the left side on a 2-on-1 with Spezza. A 50-goal scorer during the regular season, Heatley wristed a shot from the faceoff circle into the top right corner of the net for his third of the postseason.

"I felt good. I think the layoff really helped me," said Heatley, who was bothered by an ankle injury in the quarterfinals. "I had a lot of jump."

The Devils finally came to life with 2:22 to go in the period as rookie Travis Zajac converted a centering pass from Jamie Langenbrunner into his first career playoff goal.

New Jersey carried the momentum into the second, with Gionta ripping a blast from the top of the right circle that beat Emery to the stick side at 2:20. Rookie defenseman Andy Greene brought another disappointing crowd at Continental Airlines Arena to its feet 2 1/2 minutes later, when he leaned into a one-timer from the left point that sailed under Emery's glove.

But Erik Rasmussen, moved up to the Devils' No. 1 line for ailing captain Patrik Elias, took a hooking penalty that carried into the third period. Redden capitalized on the ensuing power play at the 43-second mark to restore Ottawa's two-goal cushion.

"At 4-3, we get the power plays, got plenty of time on the board to get back in the game. We didn't do it," Brodeur said. "It's unfortunate because it would have been a great comeback. It would definitely have hurt them a lot."

Zach Parise made it interesting, scoring his league-leading seventh playoff goal with 30 seconds remaining. But Ottawa prevented New Jersey from gaining the zone after the ensuing faceoff and escaped with the victory.