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Penner's goal puts Ducks one win away from championship

Jun 5, 2007 - 5:36 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Dustin Penner began to show signs of life in Game Three. He left the Ottawa Senators hanging on for dear life after Game Four.

Penner snapped a tie 4:07 into the third period and the Anaheim Ducks made it stand, holding on for a 3-2 victory over the Senators on Monday to move within one win of the Stanley Cup championship.

Andy McDonald scored two goals and set up another and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 21 saves for the Ducks, who can clinch the first Cup in franchise history Wednesday at the Honda Center.

"We're going to enjoy it here probably for the next couple of minutes," McDonald said. "But this game's over and we have to get ready for the next game. ... Hopefully, we can use our fans in our own building to be a little bit extra motivated for that next game."

Of the 28 times a three-games-to-one lead was taken in the Stanley Cup Finals, only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have come back to win the championship. They accomplished the feat against the Detroit Red Wings, who won the first three games of that series.

"We've won three in a row before, but it's going to be tough for us," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "I'm sure if you look at the stats, you'll see that history's not with us. We'll probably go just one game at a time."

"We realized there was a big opportunity here to even the series, and we're never happy with a loss," Senators goaltender Ray Emery added. "It's a tough spot to be in, but one we're definitely capable to come out of."

Getting the puck just outside of the blue line, Penner gave it to Teemu Selanne, who carried down the right side as a 2-on-1 situation arose inside the offensive zone. Heading toward the net, Penner easily knocked Selanne's pass into a vacant net at 4:07 as Emery was well out of position.

"Teemu kind of fed me coming off the bench," Penner said. "When I was in the middle of the ice, I gave it back to him, then just drove the net. He put it right on my tape and I had an open net to put it in."

"A bad goal on our part," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "(Defenseman) Chris Phillips had broken his blade, came off the ice, couldn't stay. Wade (Redden) had a change when the rush was taking place and he got flat-footed at the bench, and they took advantage of it."

It was the first goal for Penner since Game Three of the Western Conference semifinals against Vancouver, a span of 12 games. He recorded his first points since that contest vs. the Canucks on Saturday, when he notched a pair of assists.

For the second time this postseason, Anaheim survived without Norris Trophy finalist Chris Pronger, who was serving a one-game suspension for delivering a blow to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond early in the third period of Game Three.

The Ducks also posted a victory in Game Four of the conference finals vs. Detroit as Pronger was banned from that contest for a blow to the head of Tomas Holmstrom in the previous game.

"We were missing a big ingredient tonight, so everybody stepped up and did a (heck) of a job," Giguere said.

Francois Beauchemin and captain Scott Niedermayer were workhorses in Pronger's absence Monday. Beauchemin logged 31 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time in the session, while captain Scott Niedermayer - also a candidate for the Norris Trophy - played 29:23.

"I don't think we want to get used to playing without Chris," Niedermayer said. "He's a great player and helps our team a lot. But obviously, we realized when he's not there, we have to be at our absolute best. Everybody has to do their jobs."

The win was Anaheim's first on the road in the Stanley Cup Finals after losing its first five.

With the contest appeared headed to intermission scoreless, the Senators cashed in on a power play just before the buzzer to take the lead. Peter Schaefer received the puck from Mike Fisher behind the net and quickly dished to Alfredsson, who fired it under the right arm of Giguere with 1.5 seconds remaining for his league-leading 12th goal of the postseason and a 1-0 edge.

"We dumped it in, then me and Fisher got on the wall," Alfredsson said. "Fisher got it down to Schaefer behind the net, and I was able to find an opening in the slot. I was able to connect the pass. We got something really going to have a great first period."

Entering the game, the Ducks were leading the league in times shorthanded with 114. They added to that total early, with defenseman Francois Beauchemin being called for slashing 58 seconds into the opening period and Perry following with a cross-checking penalty at 3:54.

Giguere was stellar during those power plays, making five of his 12 saves in the period during those four minutes.

Had it not been for the excellence of Giguere, the Senators' lead after one period would have been much larger.

"Our goaltender played outstanding for us in that first period, and that gave the guys a chance to rally around each other to get it done in the second," Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. "The frustration level was just there because we weren't playing the way we wanted to."

"Giguere kept us in the game all night long with some big saves," Beauchemin added. "For sure, that was a tough goal to give up (late) in the period. It's always tough to give up late-period goals, but we have some character. Some guys stepped up and we did the job."

The 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Giguere made a number of brilliant saves, denying Jason Spezza from alone in front just 3 1/2 minutes into the contest and stopping Fisher with 2:22 to go.

"I thought that we really got carried away early in the hockey game with some of the emotions," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "I think we were actually trying too hard. ... I think we played over half of the period on special teams. ... Our goaltender kept us in the hockey game early."

The Ducks did not register their first shot of the game until the 11:25 mark, when Corey Perry fired a long wrister from the right faceoff circle that was stopped by netminder Ray Emery. Perry nearly gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead just over three minutes later, but his shot from the opposite side rang off the right goalpost.

"I think we were basically doing the same things we did in Game Three in the first period - taking penalties, not making good decisions with the puck," Niedermayer said. "We felt a bit lucky (only being down 1-0). We managed to regroup, played a lot better in the next two periods. We knew we had to. There was no option at that point."

The tide turned in the second period, and Andy McDonald was the main reason why. After his chip shot from the doorstep hit the right elbow of the net at 2:48, McDonald evened the game at 10:06, just four seconds after Chris Neil's interference penalty expired.

"I had a pretty good chance there," McDonald said of his shot that rang off the iron. "The puck just kind of popped out. I swung around and didn't really get a good shot off. ... Sometimes you don't get those scoring chances, so I think I was fortunate to get some more good scoring chances later in the second."

From behind the net, Todd Marchant passed the puck to McDonald, who cut across the low slot from the bottom of the right circle. After drawing Emery to the ice, McDonald wristed a shot past defenseman Andrej Meszaros and the fallen goalie, with Spezza making an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to stop the puck along the goal line.

It took McDonald just 60 seconds to put Anaheim ahead with his team-leading ninth of the playoffs. Rob Niedermayer made a nice backhand pass in the neutral zone to McDonald, who skated in from the blue line and cut across the slot as defenseman Anton Volchenkov glided by while skating backward and fell to the ice.

"He got back too far," Murray said. "Our defense started to give up, create more of a gap, backing away too much. He got back pretty deep in the slot area, and it just looked to me like he got on his toes and tried to reach to make a play on the puck. Andy's quick and made a good move on him."

With no one in his path, McDonald slid a backhander between the pads of Emery at 11:06 for a 2-1 advantage.

"When people are put in situations, and when you see them execute to that level, it's just a tribute to the individual about his skill level," Carlyle said. "That's not an easy play to be as patient as he was in both of those situations. Those are big-league plays. That's a hockey player stepping up and playing desperate and executing at a very high level for his teammates."

"You need to score goals to win a hockey game," Niedermayer added. "You need it from different lines at different times, and we've had that up until this point. Obviously, that line tonight was the difference in the game for us."

Emery kept the deficit at one with his best save of the night, snagging Beauchemin's shot from the right circle during a 2-on-1 rush with his glove with 3:47 remaining in the session.

Invisible over the first three games of the Finals, Dany Heatley came through late in the period with the first even-strength goal of the series for Ottawa's No. 1 line and his second tally in 10 contests.

In the lineup in place of the injured McAmmond, Patrick Eaves corralled the puck behind the net to the right of Giguere and walked to the end line before making a cross-crease pass to Heatley, who buried it from the right side with two minutes left, forging a 2-2 tie.

"I saw we had a little 2-on-1 at the net. Patty made a great step and made a great pass," Heatley said. "Scoring is not a relief for me. I had a few chances tonight that I probably could have buried for a few more."