The Pittsburgh Penguins hosted their first playoff game in six years on Sunday, but the Ottawa Senators spoiled the occasion.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson tallied twice in a 4-2 victory over the Penguins in Game 3 of their NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final before a crowd of 17,132 at Mellon Arena.
Daniel Alfredsson, right, is greeted at Ottawa's bench after scoring Sunday.
(Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)
Alfredsson's goals were both scored on special teams, one with a man advantage and one shorthanded, as Ottawa took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 4 goes Tuesday at Mellon Arena (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).
"We have got the momentum now and we would definitely like to keep it," Alfredsson said.
It was Pittsburgh's first playoff game on home ice since May 19, 2001, when they were blanked 5-0 by the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of the conference final.
"I'm concerned, there's no doubt," Penguins head coach Michel Therrien said. "We're going to have to show more character than that.
"For me, this performance was unacceptable. Some guys, we haven't seen them yet; some guys, I am watching tape and they're on the ice, but not even in the picture."
Dean McAmmond contributed a goal and an assist, while Mike Comrie rounded out the scoring for the fourth-ranked Senators.
Eaves leaves on stretcher
Of concern for Ottawa in the status of forward Patrick Eaves, who was wheeled off on a stretcher 9:07 into the second period.
Eaves took a shoulder flush in the face from Penguins forward Colby Armstrong as he tried to score on a wraparound.
Eaves reportedly suffered a concussion.
"It was a dirty hit," Senators forward Jason Spezza said. "Any time a guy takes a run like that, there is some intent there."
Senators head coach Bryan Murray disagreed.
"The kid was trying to make contact," Murray said. "He [Eaves] had his head down a little bit.
"He drove with his shoulder, that is part of hockey. I feel real bad with him getting hurt … it was a fair hit, a hockey hit, and we live with that."
Gary Roberts scored in the opening minute for the fifth-seeded Penguins, but Senators goaltender Ray Emery settled in nicely, turning aside 17 of 19 shots.
Emery's finest stop came in the final minute, when he preserved the margin of victory with a lunging shoulder save on rookie Evgeni Malkin.
Emery also earned an assist on Alfredsson's short-handed goal.
"You kind of dig a bit deeper when you see one of your guys go off on a stretcher like that," Emery said. "It's something you don't want to see and maybe it's something you can rally around."
Sidney Crosby led the Penguins with a goal and an assist in a losing cause and Marc-André Fleury surrendered four goals on 25 shots.
Crosby, who, at 19, became the youngest scoring champion in league history this season, tops the Penguins with five points in the series.
"We have to do a better job of not making mistakes," he said.
"We [made] a lot of mistakes with the puck and gave them a lot of opportunities they should not get," Therrien said. "We have got to play a lot better defensively."
Penguins strike quickly
Pittsburgh opened the scoring 52 seconds into the contest on a slick rush initiated by Crosby.
The Penguins phenom sped up ice and passed to his wing for Colby Armstrong, who unleashed a shot as Crosby headed to the net.
Crosby was knocked off his skates by Chris Neil as he tried to corral the rebound by the right post, but Roberts fired in the rebound for his second goal of the series.
"That was a tough one to start with, a real hurdle for our guys," Murray said.
It remained 1-0 until McAmmond spied a loose puck behind Fleury and swept it in to tie it with 1:56 left in the first period.
Tenacious forechecking resulted in the go-ahead goal for Ottawa, as Peter Schaefer stripped Malkin of the puck behind the net and fed it to the point for Joe Corvo, whose shot was tipped by Mike Fisher.
Fleury adjusted enough to stop the redirection, but Comrie tapped in the rebound for his second at 2:13 of the second period.
"They have got a real strong forecheck," Roberts said. "We [forwards] are trying to get back and give our defenceman a little lift."
Alfredsson put the Senators ahead 3-1 with a power-play goal, fooling Fleury to the short side with a low screen shot for his second of the series at 7:20.
Alfredsson later scored short-handed to make it 4-1, taking a cross-ice pass from McAmmond and snapping a shot past Fleury to the stick side for his third with 2:48 left in the period.
Crosby cut the deficit 14:40 into the third period, splitting the defence and converting Malkin's centring pass for his third of the series.
"Our offence [was] stopped in the neutral zone too many times," Penguins defenceman Sergei Gonchar said.
Senators defenceman Christoph Schubert returned Sunday, despite suffering a strained neck in a collision with Maxime Talbot midway through the second period of Game 2.
Schubert, who riled the Penguins by clipping Malkin in Game 1, caused a ruckus when he smacked Robert Scuderi into the boards from behind late in Game 3.
Schubert was penalized for boarding on the play.
With files from Sports Network
