KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils can only hope some of their last-minute heroics carry over to Game 5 of their playoff series with the Ottawa Senators.The Senators beat the heavily-favored Devils 4-3 Tuesday night at the Corel Centre to take a stunning 3-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference series.
New Jersey, outplayed and frustrated for the latter half of the game, rallied from a 4-1 deficit with two goals in the final six minutes, and only a point-blank save by Ottawa goaltender Damian Rhodes on Doug Gilmour with 61 seconds remaining kept things from going to overtime.
"It's like we're playing with fire here," said Devils coach Jacques Lemaire.
Ottawa forward Daniel Alfredsson hurt the Devils the most.
Alfredsson scored three goals, burning New Jersey's top two defensemen in the process and making Devils superstar goaltender Martin Brodeur look ordinary.
Jason York added a power-play goal for the Senators.
Despite his team's dominating performance -- or perhaps because of it -- Alfredsson figured the pressure has finally moved to the underdog Senators as the series returns to the Meadowlands.
"Now they have nothing to lose," said Alfredsson, whose three goals were his first of the series. If they lose one more, it's golf for them. We know the fourth one is the toughest one to win. We've got a lot of work to do."
The Devils finished 24 points ahead of the eighth-place Senators and their first-round series was supposed to end quickly, but not this way.
The veteran Devils were preaching relaxation in the wake of their second overtime loss in Ottawa on Sunday. By Tuesday night, the collars had clearly tightened.
"It's a tough situation for everyone to take," said Brodeur. "We really didn't expect to be in a situation like that in the first round. We put ourselves there and now we've got to try to get out of it."
New Jersey outshot the Senators 32-28 but continued to suffer from a goal drought.
Denis Pederson scored an early shorthanded goal for the Devils. Scott Stevens -- with a 60-footer late in the third -- and Gilmour, with a shot from behind the net on a power-play with 1:19 remaining, made for the frantic finish.
"There was a lot of positive vibes in the last few minutes," said Brodeur. "We finally scored a bad goal on the guy and got a lucky bounce on another one (by Gilmour)."
But the Devils are beginning to look like a deeply flawed team. In 21 games this season that they trailed after two periods, the Devils have won just once.
Ottawa, meanwhile, has now lost just once in the last 62 games when leading after two periods.
"They're playing with a lot of confidence, probably as well as they've played all year," said Devils coach Jacques Lemaire. "This (Ottawa) team is at its best and we'll have to play our best to come back."
The Senators opened a 3-1 lead in the second period, when their aggressive forechecking and fleet forwards made the Devils look slow and disorganized.
Alfredsson scored his second of the game at 6:50 after Shawn McEachern burst around New Jersey defenseman Doug Bodger and onehanded a pass into the slot.
Ottawa had a 4-on-3 man advantage when York found the puck in a crowd in front of Brodeur and ripped a shot high into the net at 16:24.
Both teams capitalized on opposition mistakes to leave the opening period tied 1-1.
Ottawa was enjoying the game's first power play when Alexei Yashin lost the puck just inside the Devils blue line. The puck squirted loose to Pederson, who charged down the ice on a breakaway and slipped a shot between Rhodes' pads at 6:34.
Alfredsson evened matters on an equally bad Devils miscue, intercepting Scott Stevens' clearing pass and beating Brodeur low to the stick side on the ensuing breakaway at 16:20.
#2 PITTSBURGH PEGUINS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
MONTREAL (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins' power play is back on track and their penalty killers are not far behind. Jaromir Jagr had two goals as the Penguins scored three power-play goals and penalty killers added two more in a 6-3 playoff victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. The victory evened the best-of-7 Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2-2, with Game 5 set for Friday night in Pittsburgh.
"Special teams were the difference tonight," said Jagr of a game in which referee Paul Devorski called 20 minor penalties. "Sometimes, every puck goes in and sometimes we can't score.
"Tonight, it seemed like everything we shot went in."
Jagr, Rob Brown and Kevin Hatcher had power-play goals, while Ed Olczyk scored short-handed as the Penguins beat goaltender Andy Moog four times on eight first-period shots.
Martin StrakaMartin Straka then scored on Pittsburgh's ninth shot on a shorthanded breakaway 2:59 into the second period to chase Moog in favor of Jose Theodore, filling in for injured backup Jocelyn Thibault.
"We retaliated tonight -- our discipline has to be better," said Montreal winger Turner Stevenson. "We play our best hockey 5-on-5, but we didn't give ourselves much chance to do that in the first period."
Added Mark Recchi: "The big difference was those three power-play goals. You can't fault Andy -- we hung him out to dry."
Vladimir Malakhov had a first-period power-play goal for Montreal and Marc Bureau brought the sellout crowd of 21,273 back into the game with a goal 1:48 into the third period.
Jonas Hoglund got another with 2:30 left to play, but Jagr got his second of the night into an empty net with 12 seconds left.
Injuries also struck Canadiens left wings Brian Savage (slight concussion on a fall into the boards) and Benoit Brunet (bruised arm in the first period).
Defenseman Stephane Quintal left in the third after reinjuring a sprained ankle. All three were listed as day-to-day.
The power play was a concern for the Penguins, who had gone 1-for-15 with a man advantage in the first three games, but they scored on three of their first four chances.
"We tried to skate more with the puck," said Jagr.
"The key for us was to shoot more," offered Hatcher, who played with blood in his right eye from a bruise that he said would be looked at by team doctors on Thursday. "When we get shots in, it helps to break up their box in front of the net.
"There's been a lot of penalties called throughout the playoffs and that's why special teams are crucial. It takes some guys out of the game. In games like this, it's important for everybody to stay sharp and be ready."
Another worry was a lack of scoring from lines other than the Jagr-Ron Francis-Stu Barnes trio. But that ended only 3:19 into the game when the second power-play unit struck.
Jiri Slegr's low point shot was deflected over Moog by Brown to open the scoring. Hatcher then one-timed Jagr's pass at 4:43.
Malakhov's bullet shot from the point put Montreal back in the game, but Francis threaded a pass to Jagr for another goal. An odd bounce put Olczyk in for his shorthanded breakaway goal at 19:25.
Montreal outshot Pittsburgh 30-20 -- including 17-6 in the third period, but the Penguins held on.
#3 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs #6 BUFFALO SABERS
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A 16-foot inflated replica of Dominik Hasek's jersey hangs in the lobby of Marine Midland Arena. The Buffalo Sabres goaltender must look that big to the Philadelphia Flyers.Hasek made 44 saves and put together his best performance in the postseason Wednesday night as the Sabres beat the Flyers 4-1 to take a 3-1 series advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"I enjoy every victory, but we need one more," Hasek said. "The series is not over, and we know that."
The Sabres scored on four of their first 10 shots and had three power-play goals as they rolled over the Flyers for the second straight game.
Dixon Ward, Miroslav Satan, Matthew Barnaby and Brian Holzinger each scored for the Sabres, who beat the Flyers 6-1 in Game 3 and came back with a similar effort in Game 4.
"The whole team plays well and takes the pressure off me," Hasek said. "When the offense scores six or four goals, I don't give up more than two or three very often. It's much more fun for me knowing I can make mistakes."
Hasek didn't make many in the most important game of his career. The next one will be even bigger. The Sabres could eliminate the Flyers with a victory in Game 5 Friday night in Philadelphia.
"Everything they are doing is right," Flyers coach Roger Neilson said. "It has gone a long time that way, but it's going too good. I still think it could turn around."
For the second time in two games, the Sabres handed Hasek a lead that was insurmountable. They scored four times on their first 10 shots and blew away the Flyers for the second time in two games.Hasek lost the shutout with 7:23 remaining when Rod Brind'Amour one-timed Eric Lindros' pass into the left circle. The goal came much too late for Philadelphia, which was wondering whether it would ever beat the all-world goalie.
"You could see they were frustrated," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "They kept peppering away and shaking their heads. It gets to be frustrating after a while."
Buffalo has never beaten Philadelphia in four meetings in the playoffs. The Flyers eliminated the Sabres in two of the last three seasons and won the Stanley Cup over Buffalo in 1975.
The Sabres couldn't ask for a better position, considering they have not lost three consecutive games since they dropped three to the Flyers in the playoffs last season. Buffalo has not lost two straight since December.
"We're one game away from finishing it off, but there's a lot of hockey to be played," Barnaby said. "We can't get overconfident. If our team starts getting overconfident, we're in big trouble. The series can turn in a heartbeat."
Hasek's save on Mike Sillinger in the first period was immeasurably important. Sillinger grabbed a loose puck and appeared to have Hasek beaten before he was stopped by the goalie with a sprawling save.
"Dom came through with some big saves, and we seem to thrive off it," Barnaby said. "It lifts up our team a little bit more, and it certainly did tonight."
Buffalo for the second straight game beat Philadelphia by making the most of its chances. The Sabres scored two goals late in the first period and two more early in the second to hand Hasek the 4-0 lead, something he has never lost in his six years in Buffalo.
The Flyers were still trying to shake off the goals they allowed to Ward and Satan late in the first period when Barnaby gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead 1:38 into the second.
#4 WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs #5 BOSTON BRUINS
BOSTON (AP) -- The Washington Capitals jumped to their customary 2-0 lead over Boston on Tuesday night. And this time, goaltender Olaf Kolzig didn't let the Bruins back in it.
"It seemed like the same script ... 1-0, 2-0, and then we get a little jittery," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said after his team held on to win 3-0 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. "But Olie was up to the task."Kolzig stopped 38 shots for his first career playoff shutout and former Bruin Adam Oates scored twice for Washington. The Capitals can wrap up the series at home on Friday night -- if they can overcome a recent history in which they've blown three 3-1 game leads.
"We've been in this situation before, up 3-1, and everyone knows how that ended up. So there's no celebration," Kolzig said. "This series is far from over and we expect a tough, tough game."
Washington has scored the first two goals in each of the series' first four games, but twice Boston has come back to tie it and take the game into double overtime. When Ken Klee scored an unassisted goal with 10:46 left, the crowd of 17,131 began cheering "Let's go, Red Sox."
Then, most of them left.
"We relaxed at that point," Wilson said. "It seemed identical the way the game was going. After that goal, the air went out of their balloon and we relaxed a little."
Like the Bruins, the Capitals have not won a playoff series since 1994. In 1996, they led Pittsburgh 3-1 in games before being losing three in a row; they did the same against the Penguins in 1992 and against the Islanders in 1987.
And Bruins coach Pat Burns won't let them forget it.
"They've been known to drop series before when they're up 3-1," he said. "I think they know that."
Washington won both games in Boston, taking Game 3 when a Boston goal was disallowed in the first overtime and Joe Juneau scored in the second overtime to win it. "What happened the last game took a lot of air out of this hockey club," Burns said.
The Bruins outplayed the Capitals again, outshooting them 38-18, but couldn't solve Kolzig.
Kolzig has a daunting 1.46 goals-against average in the series, allowing seven goals in 287 minutes. Byron Dafoe, who made 15 saves for Boston, said the Bruins have not beaten Kolzig at all in the first 30 minutes of any game.
"If you're up 2-0 in a game and half of it's over," he said, "you can figure out who has the advantage."
Washington took a 1-0 lead with 3:50 left in the first period when Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque turned the puck over in his own zone. Juneau took it away and passed it to the front of the net to Oates for his first goal of the playoffs.
Oates made it 2-0 when he tipped Calle Johansson's deflected shot through Dafoe's legs. Washington made it 3-0 when Boston's Darren Van Impe passed the puck towards Sergei Samsonov, who was in the process of leaving the ice.
Klee grabbed the loose puck and slapped it past Dafoe.
Peter Bondra, Washington's 52-goal scorer, did not play for the second consecutive game due to an injured ankle. But enforcer Chris Simon did return from his shoulder injury, playing for the first time since Dec. 20.
Oates was traded to Washington last season along with Rick Tocchet and goalie Bill Ranford for Jason Allison, Anson Carter and goalie Jim Carey. The Bruins, who were headed for their first playoff absence in 30 years, were trying to get younger and cheaper; all three players acquired by the Capitals had also criticized Boston management.
But if this first-round series is a referendum on who made out better in the deal, the edge goes to Washington. Even though Tocchet left as a free agent and Ranford is a backup to Kolzig, Carey -- a Vezina Trophy winner -- is in the minors.
And Oates has made the Bruins pay, setting up Juneau's game-winner in the second overtime of Game 3 Sunday -- his fourth assist of the series -- and scoring two goals himself in Game 4.
"It's pretty special, two big wins here," Oates said. "We've got to keep it going."
