The Ottawa Senators were 8-0 this post-season when scoring first, so were at a loss to explain Monday's loss in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.

The Senators squandered 1-0 and 2-1 leads as the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 3-2 victory on Travis Moen's goal with 2:51 left before a crowd of 17,274 at the Honda Center.

Andy McDonald, centre, is mobbed after scoring in Anaheim's 3-2 win.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)

"All through the playoffs, we have been able to dictate," Senators forward Dany Heatley said. "But I think we found out there is no such thing as momentum."

It was the fifth goal of the playoffs for Moen, who cycled the puck down low to Rob Niedermayer behind the net and ripped the return pass past Senators goaltender Ray Emery to complete the comeback from a 2-1 deficit.

"The puck was bouncing," Moen said. "But I got it on net and it snuck in."

"He is a guy who keeps working hard, keeps coming at you," Niedermayer said of Moen. "He deserves it."

Andy McDonald and Ryan Getzlaf scored the other goals for the Ducks, competing in their second Stanley Cup final.

"We used our forecheck and were physical," McDonald said. "I thought as the game went along, we wore their defence down a bit and that was a factor."

Anaheim advanced to the Stanley Cup final in 2003, but were blanked three times by Martin Brodeur in a seven-game series loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy that spring as top playoff performer, stopped 18 shots against Ottawa.

"That was true Jiggy," Ducks defenceman Sean O'Donnell said. "He is amazing at being in the right position."

Power play clicks for Ottawa

Mike Fisher and Wade Redden scored power-play goals for the Senators, who are trying to become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.

The Vancouver Canucks (1994), Calgary Flames (2004) and Edmonton Oilers (2006) have reached the final since Montreal won, but each lost in seven games.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes Wednesday (CBC, 8 p.m. ET).

"We're confident," Heatley said. "We know what to expect now.

"We made some bad decisions. They play a real defensive style, and wait for you to turn the puck over, and we did too much of that."

The matchup is intriguing because Anaheim and Ottawa have never clashed in the post-season and last met in the regular-season on Jan. 19, 2006, when the Ducks prevailed 4-3 in a shootout.

"Now we have seen these guys play, we know what they're going to bring," Senators forward Jason Spezza said. "I would imagine we're going to have a better effort come Wednesday."

Monday's opener marked Ottawa's first appearance in the Stanley Cup final since the franchise was resurrected as an expansion entry in 1992-93.

Ottawa's original franchise (1893-1934) last competed in the championship final in 1927, beating the Boston Bruins to begin a remarkable streak in which either a Canadian team or the Detroit Red Wings have captured the Stanley Cup in every year ending with the number seven.

"We can do a little bit better with the puck, and make some smarter plays," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "We made it a little bit too easy on them."

"We have got to get the puck deep more often," Senators head coach Bryan Murray said. "We have to create some offence because of that and get their defencemen to give up the line once in a while."

Whereas the Ducks played six nights earlier, the Senators had sat idle since eliminating the top-ranked Buffalo Sabres on May 19.

"It's not easy when you have that many days off," Spezza said. "We didn't get on the puck as fast.

"We turned the puck over more than we are used to. Maybe that was a bit of rust."

Ottawa showed little sign of rust at the outset, opening the scoring 98 seconds into the contest.

Forechecking in the Anaheim zone, Mike Comrie stole the puck behind the net and slid a backhand pass into the slot for Andrej Meszaros, who relayed it to Fisher.

Giguere got his glove on Fisher's shot from the faceoff circle, but the puck flipped over his head and into the net as Comrie took a swipe at it at the left post.

Comrie was initially given the power-play goal, but replays confirmed that he didn't touch the puck and it was later credited to Fisher, his fourth.

"I think we played in spurts," Comrie said. "But obviously, it wasn't enough."

Miller time for Anaheim

Anaheim tied it 1-1 when rookie Drew Miller, making his second NHL appearance, bumped Redden off the puck with a rugged check along the side boards.

Teemu Selanne scooped up the loose puck and sent a short backhand pass to McDonald, who ripped his sixth past Emery at 10:55.

"He did a great job of hustling on that goal," Sabres netminder Ryan Miller said of Drew, his younger brother.

Although Anaheim outshot Ottawa 8-4 in the first period, the Senators held a territorial advantage early in the second period and were rewarded with Redden's power-play goal at 4:36.

Moments after Joe Corvo cranked a slapshot off the left post, Alfredsson received the puck from Spezza and set up Redden, who beat Giguere over the right shoulder with a slapshot for his third.

The Ducks tried to tighten up defensively, killing off a lengthy 5-on-3, but Peter Schaefer nearly put the Senators ahead 3-1 on a rising wrist shot that hit the right post and stayed out.

"If we could have gone up 3-1, we would have put ourselves in a pretty good spot," Spezza said.

"We took some penalties we did not want to take and got ourselves into trouble there," O'Donnell said. "But we found a way to get out of trouble and we came back.

"That is one thing this team does and we have showed it all along. We do have a lot of heart."

Getzlaf tied it 2-2 with his sixth at 5:44 of the third period, fooling Emery with a backhand shot when it seemed he may pass instead.

"We sat back a little too much and they attacked us," Heatley said. "Our game is an aggressive game, where we want to get the puck in and take the play to them, and, in the third period, they did that to us."

With files from Sports Network