WASHINGTON (AP) -- By the time the game was over, the Washington Capitals' veteran trio of Adam Oates, Peter Bondra and Brian Bellows had combined for 101 career playoff goals.
That's 43 more than the entire Ottawa Senators team.
In a battle of youth vs. experience, the youngsters took more shots but the veterans made the difference Thursday night. Oates, Bondra and Bellows -- with a combined 98 years among them -- each scored in the Washington Capitals' 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"A lot of times you can look up at the shot clock and see that you're getting outshot and think you're getting outplayed, but we've got a lot of veterans that don't let that get into their heads," said left wing Craig Berube, another member of the Capitals' over-30 crowd. "We don't let it spread around the room. Let's be patient."
Patience was necessary as the Capitals allowed the game's first goal, were outshot 38-23 and didn't have a power play after the first period. Add another outstanding game from Olaf Kolzig -- 36 saves --- and veteran Esa Tikkanen's effective shadowing of Ottawa's top scoring threat, Alexei Yashin, and the Capitals are a step closer to their second-ever appearance in the conference finals.
"It was probably our best game in the playoffs," said Kolzig, who led all goalies in the league in saves in the first round. "They didn't get too much other than the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. We feel good about this hockey game, the way the whole team played."
The Capitals also got a goal from their rookie star, Richard Zednik. Daniel Alfredsson and Andreas Dackell scored for the Senators, who are coming off an emotional playoff series victory over New Jersey, their first since the franchise was resurrected in 1992.
"Nobody is comfortable," defenseman Per Gustafsson said. "We did a good job in the first round, but now it's the second round. Nobody's happy with what we've done right now."
Going into the series, the Senators hoped they could capitalize on their younger legs and overall speed. But Oates, 35, outraced the Ottawa defense for a breakaway score -- his 36th career playoff goal -- to break a 1-1 tie in the second period.
Then Bondra, 30, whose sprained ankle kept him out of three games in Washington's first-round series victory over Boston, scorched a perfect drive from the top of the left circle early in the third for his 17th playoff goal. Less than two minutes later, 33-year-old Bellows got his 48th playoff score after a turnover near the blue line to make it 4-1.
"Adam Oates may not look fast," said Bellows, sporting a few gray hairs around the temples. "But let me tell you, he's fast. Joe Juneau can fly, Bondra and Zednik. There's a lot of speed there, it's just people don't think so."
Bondra's score was the most impressive. Goaltender Damian Rhodes appeared to have the net covered as Bondra skated down the left side, but the 52-goal regular-season scorer found an opening -- just inside the far post from 35 feet out.
Kolzig, who led all goalies in saves in the first round, seems to pull off at least one unbelievable save every game in these playoffs, and Thursday was no exception. In the first period, when Shawn McEachern appeared to have an open net to poke home a rebound, Kolzig fell backwards and reached out to catch the puck just before it crossed the line.
"It either hits my glove or goes over my glove," Kolzig said. "It's one of those lucky things, but I was able to get there to be lucky."
Kolzig also sprawled on his side to make another acrobatic save with 28 seconds remaining in the game after Ottawa had pulled goalie Ron Tugnutt, who replaced Rhodes after the fourth Capitals goal.
Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said he will wait a day before deciding on his goalie for Game 2. Rhodes was hot during the upset of the Devils, but Tugnutt has won 7 of 8 games against the Capitals over two seasons.
"I thought Damian gave us a good game," Martin said. "We made a change to try and shake things up."
Ottawa scored first with a short-handed goal when Alfredsson scored on a 2-on-1 break after Bruce Gardiner picked off a pass near the blue line.
After the Capitals went up 4-1 in the third, Dackell cut the lead in half with a backhanded goal on a power play with 12:48 remaining. The puck also ended up in the Capitals' net with 11:09 left after a shot by Gardiner and a scramble in front of the net, but the whistle had blown the play dead and the goal was disallowed.
#6 BUFFALO SABERS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Nobody was safe from Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff's bench during the regular season, not even star goaltender Dominik Hasek. If anybody went into a slump, they sat.
Geoff Sanderson found himself in street clothes for the series-clinching, first-round victory in Game 5 against the Philadelphia Flyers after he went four games without scoring.
On Friday night, his second goal 2:37 into overtime lifted the Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"When you're supposed to be scoring goals and you go through a series where you don't produce, then you have to make changes," Sanderson said. "I knew I had to score. I put all sorts of pressure on myself to do it."
Sanderson, who also scored in the first period, grabbed Brian Holzinger's rebound in the right circle and beat Canadiens goaltender Andy Moog with a wrist shot into the top half of the net. Just like that, his poor play against Philadelphia was forgotten.
"Nobody wants to sit out a playoff game," Ruff said. "I thought (the benching) was a chance to send him a message."
It marked the first time in 14 playoff games that the Canadiens lost a game in overtime. Montreal nearly pulled out a victory after coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period.
Turner Stevenson and Vincent Damphousse scored 10 seconds apart with less than six minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game as the Sabres were caught sitting on a 2-0 lead.
For the first 54 minutes, the night belonged to Hasek, who once again saved his team from embarrassment. He made 42 saves and killed several scoring opportunities before Stevenson and Damphousse scored in the third period. All told, Hasek stopped 46 shots.
"If we play that hard every game, it's going to be real tough on Buffalo," Moog said. "They're going to need a lot more performances from their goaltender to win."
Hasek should have been punch-drunk considering all the shots he faced in the second period, but for a while, he only seemed to get stronger with every Montreal scoring opportunity.
The Canadiens finally broke through when Marc Bureau had the puck near the point and sent a pass between the circles to Stevenson, who made a quick move and beat Hasek with a backhander to the stick side with 5:44 left in regulation.
Moments after the ensuing faceoff, Damphousse took a pass from defenseman Vladimir Malakhov and beat Hasek between the legs with a wrist shot from a difficult angle.
"Dom was unbelievable," Sabres forward Matthew Barnaby said. "We didn't mean to hang him out to dry. He stood on his head and won the game for us."
Montreal had a chance to win with two minutes left in the third when Shayne Corson rattled a wrist shot off the goal post. Less than a minute later, Mark Recchi hit the other post.
"We responded well in the second and third periods," Damphousse said. "We are not going to stop coming at him until we win or it's over."
The sixth-seeded Sabres, who beat the No. 3 Philadelphia Flyers in five games in the first round, got off to another good start against the seventh-seeded Canadiens. Game 2 will be played Sunday in Buffalo.
Holzinger got the Sabres moving when he scored 2:52 into the game after Donald Audette chased down the puck in the corner and chipped it in front of the net. Holzinger swung behind the goal and grabbed control before beating Moog with a wrist shot between the legs.
Sanderson made it 2-0 after Buffalo made three quick passes in the Montreal zone before Jason Woolley found Sanderson with a fourth in the right circle. Sanderson's wrist shot went through Moog's legs.
"It's a great feeling," Sanderson said. "I was really feeling pressure for myself and basically from everyone. I really wanted to get going."
