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Senators baffle Buffalo, take 3-0 series lead

May 15, 2007 - 5:05 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators got the best of Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller just once, but it was enough.

Daniel Alfredsson scored the game's only goal and the Senators completely shut down the Buffalo Sabres on Monday for a 1-0 win in Game Three of the Eastern Conference finals.

With the win, the Senators have put themselves in great position to reach their first Stanley Cup Final since joining the NHL in 1992-93.

The fourth-seeded Senators opened the best-of-seven series with a pair of road wins over the top-seeded Sabres. Ottawa defended home ice on Monday to take a dominating 3-0 lead despite Miller's best efforts.

"We ruined a pretty good performance by our goaltender," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "We just have to worry about winning a game."

Miller did everything he could to keep the Sabres from getting blown out in this one, making 31 saves, including 13 in the first period. The only goal he allowed was due more to bad luck than a great play by the Senators.

Dany Heatley fired a one-timer from the point that went wide and bounced off the boards to Miller, who attempted to glove the puck but missed it. The puck was sliding back toward the net when Alfredsson sliced in behind Miller to slam it home.

"Another unbelievable bounce. That stuff hasn't happened to me in years and here, this comes up again," Miller said. "I had my hand on Heatley's shot, just enough to push it wide but it just fired right back at me. It kind of surprised me into a little bit of a panic so I threw my glove back at it.

"It hit my fingertip and Alfredsson, he barely got it anyway, but Alfredsson made the day. It's a tough way of losing the game."

Buffalo had a two-goal lead in Game Two Saturday but ended up suffering a 4-3, double-overtime loss. The Sabres were not able to bounce back in Game Three, due to a dominant effort by the Senators and another woeful performance on the power play.

Buffalo was 0-for-6 with the extra skater on Monday and is 0-for-18 for the series. The Sabres have scored just three goals in their last 41 power-play opportunities.

"The power play is a big frustration point right now," Buffalo center Chris Drury said. "We've tried just about everything in these three games. If we had gotten one along the way here, things might be a little different. What's done is done, but if anything we need to regroup as best we can."

Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery needed to make only 15 saves for his third shutout this postseason. His best stop came in the closing seconds when he made a pad save on a shot by Daniel Briere from the right circle with 12 seconds to play.

"We played a great defensive game, and I think it really generated many, many chances," Emery said. "Miller was playing really well, too. So it's not like we had that cushion. It's definitely, you know, a game you have to remind yourself to stay focused and stay mentally sharp in there because you never know when you're going to get a chance."

Briere's last-gasp effort was one of the few times Emery was tested as the Senators won a franchise-record sixth straight playoff game and improved to 11-2 this postseason.

Ottawa hosts Game Four on Wednesday.

"We know that they are going to be close games. We just have to continue to battle and be disciplined and hope that we can get a couple more pucks past the goaltender, but we'll be ready," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "This group is a focused group, and we'd like to win at home, there's no question about that. So we're going the try in every way we can to make that happen."