EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The late-season slump isn't the only worry the New Jersey Devils have. There's also the Ottawa Senators, who beat them at their own game in the opener of their first-round NHL playoff series.
Bruce Gardiner scored on a rebound at 5:48 of overtime and the Senators stunned the Devils 2-1 Wednesday night.
Even though the Senators split four regular season games with the Devils, few expected the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference to come into New Jersey's building and win the opener in the best-of-7 series.
"I don't think there was a doubt in any of our minds that even before this game that we couldn't do it," Gardiner said. "The goal in the regular season is just to make the playoffs. Now everybody is even.
"You may think we are a longshot to beat these guys, but we had a really good series with them," said Gardiner, who had only eight goals in the regular season. "They won two and we won two very low-scoring games. When two teams like that meet, you never know who's going to win."
The Senators won this won in big part because Damian Rhodes was outstanding, making 28 saves. Alexei Yashin also chipped in -- literally -- with a fluke goal.
Doug Gilmour forced the overtime by scoring with 3:24 left in regulation for the Devils, who had the best record in the East but closed the season mired in a 3-5-2 slump.
"They came in and played the way we usually played and beat us at our own game," Gilmour said.
The game winner came less than a minute after the Devils killed off a third straight penalty called against them by referee Paul Devorski. The first two came late in the third period and the last at 3:16 of overtime.
Daniel Alfredsson dumped the puck into the Devils' end and Doug Bodger sent it around the boards as Shaun Van Allen checked him. Janne Laukkanen stopped the puck and Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur blocked his shot. Gardiner got the rebound and flipped it over a diving Brodeur.
"Janne put it on the net and the rebound was right there," Gardiner said of the biggest goal of his career. "I had pretty much an open net."
Rhodes, who missed last year's playoffs because of a calf injury, said this game had a familiar feel.
"It's great for us," he said. "We're the underdog. We can go out and play our game. They might have to force themselves a little more."
Ottawa seemed headed to a 1-0 victory before Gilmour tied it with 3:24 to go after some hard work by Steve Thomas and Denis Pederson. Thomas kept the puck in the Senators zone and then Pederson won a battle with defenseman Lance Pitlick. He kicked the puck to Thomas to the left of Rhodes. Thomas slid it across the crease and Gilmour put it into an open side.
Yashin had given the Senators the lead with a bizarre goal with 1:12 left in the second period that actually went in off Devils center Bobby Carpenter. The goal came just nine seconds after a penalty against New Jersey's Bobby Holik left the teams with four skaters apiece.
The Senators won the faceoff and Brodeur made a jumping save on a fluttering shot from the point by Chris Phillips. Yashin got the rebound, was stopped on a stuff attempt at the corner of the net, but then saw his flip shot from behind the net bounce in off Carpenter's leg.
Rhodes, who allowed seven goals in splitting four games with the Devils this season, stopped at least six outstanding scoring chances in the first two periods.
His best two saves came in the final eight minutes of the second period. The first came off a deflection by Holik right in front, and the second was a skate save on Randy McKay on a shot from low in the right circle.
Earlier in the period, Rhodes stopped Dave Andreychuk point-blank after the forward took a pass from behind the net.
Pederson had the Devils' best chances in the first period with a deflection and a rebound in close on an odd-man rush with Gilmour.
#2 PITTSBURGH PEGUINS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Benoit Brunet caught Pittsburgh in a line change to beat Tom Barrasso with a slap shot from the top of the left circle at 18:43 of overtime, rallying Montreal past the Penguins 3-2 in their playoff opener Thursday night.
Penguins rookie Alexei Morozov could have won it just 1:44 into the extra period, but his backhander on a penalty shot _ a rarity in NHL overtime playoff hockey _ clanged off the right post.
Both teams had ample scoring changes after that, but it took Brunet's breakout following Vladimir Malakhov's up-ice pass to win it and send Pittsburgh to its seventh loss in its last nine playoff series openers.
Pittsburgh had rallied to tie it with only 1:38 remaining in the third period as Stu Barnes got his stick on Jiri Slegr's shot from a crowded crease after Jaromir Jagr grabbed the puck off a faceoff.
The Penguins then could have won it on the penalty shot, awarded after defenseman Patrice Brisebois knocked the net off its moorings just as Andy Moog turned away Martin Straka's shot from the slot.
Before that, Montreal shook off Pittsburgh defenseman Brad Werenka's shorthanded goal at 7:21 of the second period to lead 1-0 and 2-1 and dictate the predictably conservative tempo.
The Canadiens haven't won a playoff series since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1993, and the pressure has grown in Montreal ever since to start winning in the postseason again.
First-year coach Alain Vigneault even sequestered the Canadiens 40 miles away from Montreal for their first two pre-playoff practices this week, closing the first 40 minutes each day to the media.
Moog turned away 33 of 35 shots to beat the Penguins for the first time in his last nine playoff starts against them.
Vincent Damphousse, the highest-paid player in Canadiens history but a free agent after this season, had a hand in the first two Montreal goals after going a minus-one against Pittsburgh during the regular season.
Maybe it was the unusual sight of empty seats in the Civic Arena, a rarity during the Mario Lemieux era, but Montreal seized the early momentum _ and lead _ by outshooting Pittsburgh 14-5 in the first period.
Playing without injured center Saku Koivu (broken hand), who will miss at least one more game, Montreal showed an unusual look early by sometimes playing three defensemen and only two forwards against Pittsburgh's top line of Jagr, Ron Francis and Stu Barnes.
Martin Rucinsky gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 12:15 of the first, jumping on a rebound of Damphousse's missed shot in the slot and stuffing it by Barrasso.
It was a characteristic start for the Penguins, who are 2-4 in the last six series they started with a loss.
The Penguins tied it with one of their unlikeliest goals of the season: Brad Werenka's short-handed breakaway just nine seconds after Montreal failed to score during a two-man advantage lasting 1:12.
Werenka left the penalty box just ahead of a 3-on-1 rush on Malakhov. He took Slegr's lead pass, skated in unobstructed from the blue line and punched the puck past Moog to the stick side.
The Canadiens answered with an improbable goal of their own: Peter Popovic's first goal in 16 playoff games at 16:44, a slap shot from the left point past Barrasso, who had lost his stick in a collision with Damphousse.
The teams are meeting in the playoffs for the first time in their 31-year rivalry, even though they spent several seasons in the same division.
The crowd of 14,692 was 2,262 under capacity, and the Penguins announced repeatedly that ample seats remain for their three possible remaining home games in the series.
It was Pittsburgh's first overtime playoff game since Petr Nedved's game winner decided their four-overtime thriller against Washington in 1996.
#3 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs #6 BUFFALO SABERS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Coach Lindy Ruff said he needed his smallish Buffalo Sabres to play big against the NHL's largest team, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Donald Audette, the smallest Sabre at 5-foot-8, grew in his coach's eyes by scoring the game-winning goal as Buffalo beat Philadelphia 3-2 to take the first game of their NHL playoff series Wednesday night.
Audette slapped in a rebound from the side of the net with 8:17 left after the Flyers erased a 2-0 deficit with goals 19 seconds apart earlier in the period.
"It's been one of our characteristics down the stretch," Ruff said. "We've showed we can score some goals late in games to win or at least tie them."
Audette got the winner after Flyers goalie Sean Burke flopped to stop a shot from the point. The rebound trickled to the side of the net, and Audette lifted the puck over the fallen goalie from a tough angle.
"I just went to the net," Audette said. "It was definitely important to get it, because we had worked too hard to get the 2-0 lead."
Star goalie Dominik Hasek made 22 saves overall, but had one rough spot when the Flyers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game.
"To come back the way we did, it's a tough loss," Flyers coach Roger Neilson said, noting his team was 0-for-6 on the power play. "We have to get the power play working. That is a key."
Michal Grosek and Wayne Primeau also scored for Buffalo, while Rod Brind'Amour and Chris Gratton got Philadelphia's goals.
Game 2 is Friday night in Philadelphia.
Hasek stopped the first 20 shots before the Flyers beat him on their next two shots to tie the game. But Philadelphia managed only six shots for the period.
Brind'Amour made it 2-1 at 8:29. His wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat Hasek, who was screened by Eric Lindros, high to the stick side.
Gratton also beat Hasek high to the stick side. Alone in the slot, Gratton shot a 25-footer that seemed to catch the Sabres goalie off-guard.
"The first goal, I didn't see the puck coming," Hasek said. "The second goal, Gratton just made a very good wrist shot and the puck went in."
The Flyers outplayed the Sabres in the first period and outshot them 11-9, but a goal late in the period by Grosek put Buffalo ahead 1-0.
Matthew Barnaby set up the goal by faking defenseman Dave Babych in the right faceoff circle, then skating in alone on Burke, who sprawled to stop Barnaby's shot. Grosek, unchecked down the slot, flipped the rebound into the vacated net.
Twelve seconds after they killed a penalty, the Sabres scored the second period's only goal.
Derek Plante skated up the left side and passed to Primeau on the other side at the blue line. Fighting off a check by Trent Klatt, Primeau snapped a short backhander that beat Burke high to the stick side.
Flyers defenseman Petr Svoboda suffered cervical nerve root damage after getting kneed in the head during the second period of the Flyers' playoff game with Buffalo on Wednesday night.
Svoboda, who was carried off the ice on a stretcher, was in stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said he would stay overnight for tests.
"They don't believe he has any structural damage on his spine or anything, but he's got a couple of compressed nerves," Clarke said. "He probably isn't going to be back for a long time."
Svoboda dived at center ice to slap the puck forward. The Sabres' Dixon Ward, coming from the side, also fell to the ice, and his knee and shinpad struck Svoboda on the side of the head.
Clarke said Svoboda was conscious and had not lost the use of any of his limbs.
The Flyers also lost forward Mike Sillinger in the second period. He suffered a concussion after being blind-sided by Buffalo's Alexei Zhitnik.
#4 WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs #5 BOSTON BRUINS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A hush fell over the MCI Center when Peter Bondra limped off the ice midway through the second period. It seemed the Washington Capitals' perpetual run of injuries had hit a new low at exactly the wrong time."He said, `Coach, I broke my leg,' " coach Ron Wilson said. "I'm calloused to hearing things like that, because I've heard them far too often here. I kept my fingers crossed and hoped that it wasn't that bad."
It wasn't. Doctors said it was only a twisted ankle, and a roar rippled across the arena when the 52-goal scorer, the centerpiece of the Capitals' offensive threat, came back at the start of the third.
As it turned out, Bondra wasn't needed in that final period. Washington's tenacious defense and goaltender Olaf Kolzig held off Boston in a 3-1 victory in Wednesday's Game 1 of the first-round Eastern Conference series. But if he were lost for the series -- and he's not sure he'll be back for Game 2 -- it would severely dampen the Capitals' hopes of breaking their run of playoff misery.
"If he's out for one game, it probably won't make much of a difference," defenseman Mark Tinordi said. "But over the series ..."
While Bondra's departure and return were very visible, it was the disappearance of the Bruins' leading scorer, Jason Allison, and the rest of the young Boston attack that made the difference in the game.
Allison, who had 83 points during the regular season, was held to just one shot by defenders Tinordi and Calle Johansson. Kolzig made 27 saves, and the only goal he allowed came off a teammate's skate as he outdueled his best friend Byron Dafoe, who had 24 saves.
"We had some guys who were probably surprised with the intensity of the game," said coach Pat Burns, noting the lack of postseason experience among the players. "There were players who didn't know what they were getting into, what to expect. We're here to learn and we've learned."
Brian Bellows and Sergei Gonchar accounted for a 2-0 lead, and Esa Tikkanen scored an empty-netter for the Capitals, who ran their home unbeaten streak to 12 games. The playoff enthusiasm has yet to capture all of Washington, however, as there were about 8,000 empty seats in the 20,000-seat MCI Center.
"You've got to wonder what we have to do," Wilson said. "But I guess we did what we're supposed to do to attract people. We won the game. ... Friday night, I'm sure we're going to have a packed house."
Gonchar actually put the puck in the net twice in the second period, once for the Caps and once for the Bruins. The Russian defender, left unchecked by Steve Heinze, took Michal Pivonka's deft pass at 2:49 to make it 2-0.
Gonchar then inadvertantly spoiled the Capitals' string of 22 consecutive penalty kills when the back of his skate kicked in ex-Caps center Dmitri Khristich's pass across the crease at 6:53.
A few minutes later, Bondra went down, tackled from behind by Hal Gill.
"The guy landed on my left ankle," Bondra said. "It felt kind of strange, kind of funny. I wasn't sure what really was wrong. I'll just ice it down, and we'll see what happens tomorrow. We'll take it day by day."
In the first period, the Capitals fed off the energy generated by their penalty-killing units, which during the regular season were the best in the NHL since the 1967 expansion.
After the second of two sensational penalty kills, the Capitals used the momentum to score their first goal. Just as Mike Eagles stepped out of the box, the Caps put on a rush that ended when Bondra freed the puck from Khristich in front of the net, allowing Bellows to wrist a shot that trickled between Dafoe's legs at 16:40.
The Capitals played without Steve Konowalchuk, a last-minute scratch with a wrist injury that will be examined Thursday. Washington has lost nearly 500 man-games due to injury, so it's little wonder the team was somewhat numbed when Bondra got hurt.
"He might go down next game," Tinordi said. "If we get all down and lose hope just because he got hurt, then we're not much of a team."
