KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- Daniel Alfredsson notched his second hat trick of the Stanley Cup playoffs as the Ottawa Senators rebounded from two straight losses to Washington and beat the Capitals 4-3 Monday night.
Frustrated in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinal by the stunning goaltending of Washington's Olaf Kolzig, the Senators scored three power-play goals and held on for a crucial victory in a series that had seemed to be rapidly slipping away.
Game 4 is Wednesday night at the Corel Centre, where the Senators have not lost in four playoff games.
Alfredsson, who slammed his stick against the glass in frustration and was given a misconduct after Washington scored six goals on its last six shots of Saturday night's 6-1 victory, scored all three of his goals in the first period to take over the goal-scoring lead in the playoffs with seven. And they came against a goalie who had stopped 292 of the 308 shots he had faced in eight previous playoff games.
The Senators knew they would have to control play early and did with some tough checks in the opening minutes as the raucous home crowd roared its approval.
That roar turned to sublime delight when Washington's Esa Tikkanen, who had shadowed the Senators' high-scoring Alexei Yashin in the first two games with great success, knocked a shot by Alfredsson into the Washington net on an Ottawa power play just 5:24 into the game. Kolzig had no chance on the goal -- he was lying helpless on his back in the crease after a terrific pad save.
Alfredsson, whose first hat trick gave the Senators a 4-3 victory over New Jersey in the first round, made it 2-0 at 8:17 when he redirected Randy Cunneyworth's centering pass from behind the net past Kolzig.
Sergei Gonchar got Washington going with a similar goal, scoring on a power play midway through the period off a feed from Andrei Nikolishin. It was his fifth goal of the playoffs, tops among defensemen.
Alfredsson made it 3-1 with a nifty deflection at 16:58. Chris Phillips' shot from just inside the blue line deflected off a defenseman right to Alfredsson, who was cruising in from the right boards, and he caught Kolzig by surprise with a quick flip of his stick.
Despite the surge, the Senators had to withstand some shaky goaltending throughout the game by Damian Rhodes, who allowed three goals on the first nine shots he faced.
Washington closed to 3-2 on Peter Bondra's power-play goal just 1:08 into the second period. Bondra slapped in the rebound of a shot by Richard Zednik to quiet the crowd.
But they came alive again when Yashin scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, at 10:54, to restore the Senators' two-goal lead.
The jitters returned less than three minutes later when Zednik caught Rhodes flatfooted, blasting a hard slap shot past him on the short side to make it 4-3.
Rhodes, who made 14 saves, saved the game with a dazzling pad stop on Zednick with nine seconds left and Kolzig off for an extra attacker.
Kolzig, who finished with 30 saves, kept the Capitals within a goal with two superb saves during a power play early in the scoreless third period, stopping consecutive shots from 10 feet in front of the net by Janne Laukkanen.
#6 BUFFALO SABERS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
MONTREAL (AP) -- Michael Peca wasn't sure who it would be when he looked down the bench for somebody to win the Buffalo Sabres another playoff game. He should have grabbed a mirror.
Peca's goal 1:24 into the second overtime gave Buffalo a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night and moved the Sabres within one game of sweeping their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"There hasn't been any doubt in this locker room in I don't know how long," said Peca, who finished with his first two playoff goals in 23 career games. "Guys were talking about how they were going to dance when they scored."
Peca didn't have time for dancing. He was too worried about getting a previous wound on his ear ripped open when his teammates mobbed him after charging the ice. The ear is intact, and the Sabres can't ask for a better position in the playoffs.
Dixon Ward set up the game-winner when he grabbed control of the puck in the left circle and found Peca alone in the high slot. Peca took a hard slap shot that beat Jose Theodore to the glove side to give the Sabres a 3-0 series advantage.
"The middle of the ice and the high slot was open all night," Peca said. "I wanted to find that hole. Dix got it to me, (defenseman) Jason Woolley set up a great screen, and the far side was wide open."
Buffalo has won six straight playoff games going back to Game 3 against Philadelphia in the first round, and it has been someone different scoring crucial goals every night. On Tuesday, it was Peca's turn.
"We found another guy to be the hero," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's all we look for in overtime."
It was the second straight overtime loss for the Canadiens in the playoffs after winning 14 straight.
Game 4 will be played Thursday night at the Molson Centre. Only two teams, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders, have come back from a three-game deficit to win a best-of-7 series.
"There's no better position than 3-0," Ward said. "The thing is you have to win Game 4. (The Canadiens) aren't thinking they're done. They're going to be coming hard again. We have to play even better."
Peca also scored in the first period, his first two goals in 23 playoff games. Curtis Brown, Vaclav Varada and Geoff Sanderson scored for Buffalo. Dominik Hasek made 42 saves and kept the Sabres in the game after they were outshot 18-2 in the third period.
Turner Stevenson had two goals in the first period for the Canadiens. Saku Koivu and Vladimir Malakhov also scored for Montreal.
It was the Sabres' longest game since they beat the New Jersey Devils April 27, 1994, when Hasek finished with 70 saves in a game that went four overtimes. Montreal's longest came in 1930, when it beat the New York Rangers in the fourth overtime.
"It was a game we had to find a way to win," Ruff said. "We had to gut it out."
Jocelyn Thibault started in goal for Montreal in place of Andy Moog, but he was pulled with 15:18 remaining in the second period after he allowed four goals on 13 shots.
It seemed as if Montreal was a different team in front of Theodore, who made 11 straight saves before he was accidentally kicked in the head by Donald Audette with 10:22 left in the third. Theodore appeared woozy but stayed in the game and finished with 18 saves.
"I'm disappointed we lost a game we definitely deserved to win," Theodore said. "We just couldn't buy a goal in overtime. It's just a shot away. They got the shot and they won."
Malakhov had tied the game 4-4 with 3� minutes left in the second period when the Canadiens caught Hasek out of position. Malakhov had an open net after quick passes by Mark Recchi and Peter Popovic before his shot bounced off Peca and into the goal.
Before the third period, it seemed every time the Canadiens implemented an offensive game plan, the Sabres came back and scored to stay in control.
Montreal tied the game at 3-3 when Koivu scored off a two-on-one break with Recchi 4:22 into the second period, and it appeared the Canadiens were willing to give Buffalo a game.
But the Sabres answered 20 seconds later when Sanderson banged in Brian Holzinger's rebound, chasing Thibault from the net.
"We got momentum, and the crowd got into it, and they score to tie it up or go ahead," Canadiens forward Vincent Damphousse said. "We didn't quit through the second half of the game. We dominated, but Hasek made the big saves."
