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Senators head home hoping for a win

Jun 2, 2007 - 2:48 PM Anaheim at Ottawa 8:00 pm EDT Stanley Cup Finals Anaheim leads 2-0

OTTAWA (Ticker) - The Ottawa Senators have dug themselves a deep hole. The Anaheim Ducks will look to pour the dirt on when the Stanley Cup Finals moves to Ottawa on Saturday for Game Three.

After earning a dramatic third-period win in Game One, the Ducks went back to the same well in Game Two.

Samuel 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.

"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.

The Senators will need to get their high-powered offense back in gear here on Saturday. Ottawa was second in the league during the regular season with 288 goals scored.