Sabres outscore Sens in classic playoff game
After shocking many fans around the NHL, the Sabres were on a mission to prove how good they really were. After defeating the Flyers in six games, Buffalo headed to Ottawa to pay a visit to the Senators.
Just 35 seconds into the game, the Sabres grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal from Mike Grier. It didn’t take long for the Senators to get on the board. They would score two goals on Ryan Miller just 15 seconds apart.
On the power play, Teppo Numminen tied the game up, firing the puck past Ray Emery to tie the game at two. The score would remain tied until the second period.
Ottawa’s Martin Havlat gave the Sens the one goal lead again with a goal less than two minutes into the period. With Ottawa on the power play, it looked dangerous as they had a chance to go up by two.
Buffalo’s Tim Connolly stole the puck, went down the ice, and scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at three. The Senators would get another try on the power play, and this time it worked. Dany Heatley took a wrist shot to beat Miller for the one goal lead.
Trailing by one towards the end of the period, Derek Roy scored to tie the game at four. These two teams just kept going back and forth.
It only took 16 seconds for someone to score a goal in the third. It was Mike Fisher who beat Miller that time to go up by one again. Then, the scoring stopped for over 17 minutes, and the Sabres looked as if they were about to lose game one of the series.
With a few minutes to go, Brian Campbell took a tripping penalty, almost sealing the deal for the Senators. During the Ottawa power play, Connolly and Roy broke out and had a two on one chance, and Roy lit the lamp.
It was Roy’s second goal of the night as he tied the game at five with just over a minute and a half to play. Fans in downtown Buffalo were going crazy, but there is one thing they forgot about. Although the Sabres tied the game, Ottawa was still on the power play. 24 seconds later, Bryan Smolinski beat Miller with 1:13 to go in the game.
The game still wasn’t over. For the fifth time of the game, Buffalo came back from a goal down to tie it up. Emery had trouble covering the puck, and Tim Connolly backhanded it in with 11 seconds to go and tied the game at six.
The overtime period wasn’t any different. It only took 18 second for a goal. Chris Drury finished off the Senators with a shot that beat Emery and gave Buffalo a 7-6 win.