Senators 4 Bruins 3, OT
BOSTON (AP) — Bobby Ryan scored on a tip-in on a power play 5:43 into overtime, and the Ottawa Senators recovered after giving up a three-goal lead to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
Ryan got free in the zone, tapping it in on assists by Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson. Mike Hoffman added two goals for Ottawa, with Derick Brassard scoring the other. Craig Anderson finished with 17 saves.
It was the second straight overtime game of the series, and second consecutive win for the Senators following their 4-3 victory in Game 2.
This time Bruins rallied from a 3-0 deficit with three goals in second period, tying the game on a power play goal by David Pastrnak.
Noel Acciari and David Backes also scored for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Boston.
Ottawa seemed to be cruising in the second period following Hoffman’s second goal of the night off a power play to make it 3-0. But then Boston finally got going on the offensive end.
First, forward Noel Acciari, who returned from injury, got Boston on the board on a tip-in off a miss by John- Michael Liles. That was followed 42 seconds later by Backes’ slap shot after he broke through the Senators defense to swipe the puck and open the ice.
Then, the Bruins finally cashed in on Pastrnak’s goal with Dion Phaeneuf in the penalty box for slashing.
It nearly nullified what was a dominating start by the Senators, who kept the action on their side of the red line for most of the first period.
The Bruins played through a rash of injuries in the first two games, and were missing defensemen Adam McQuaid, Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Colin Miller on Monday.
Acciari and center David Krejci both returned, but Boston struggled early to find much offensive traction.
Hoffman and Brassard scored just 25 seconds apart in the first period and exploited a depleted Boston defense to give Ottawa an early 2-0 lead.
The Bruins made up for their sloppy start and came out more aggressive on the offensive end in the second period, scoring three goals on just seven shots — including the two in 42 seconds — to get back into the game.
The Senators outshot the Bruins 10-3 in the first, taking advantage of several defensive breakdowns on their side of the ice.
Ottawa’s first goal of the night came after Erik Karlsson flipped a pass behind Boston’s defense to spring Hoffman on a breakaway. Hoffman controlled the puck and easily tapped it by Rask into the right corner of the net.
Then Brassard got on the board, slipping a slap shot by Rask for his second goal in two games.
Backes had the best opportunity to score for the Bruins in first period, but his attempt to fire a glove side shot by Anderson was wide right, striking the post.
It was the first game of the series that the Bruins had trailed after the opening 20 minutes.
