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Rob to the rescue Zamuner helps Senators end playoff losing streak
Posted: Monday May 01, 2000 08:12 PM By Chris Stevenson, SLAM! Sports OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators need a big start Monday night if their playoff hopes were not to end prematurely for the second straight spring.
The big question going into Game 3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs was how the Senators would come out after being embarrassed in Game 2, a game in which the Leafs - hardly known as a punishing club - had manhandled the Senators for the second half of the game. It didn't take long to get the answer in what turned out to be a 4-3 Ottawa win, narrowing Toronto's lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal to 2-1. Game 4 is at the Corel Centre Wednesday. The Senators roared out of the gate and were sparked by a raucous first shift by fourth liners Andre Roy, Shaun Van Allen and Colin Forbes. Roy, playing in just his second NHL playoff game, set the tone on that first shift. He raced into the Toronto zone and put a big hit on Leafs defenceman Alexander Karpovtsev which sustained the energy being put out by the Corel Centre crowd before the game. Roy added two more hits on that first shift and the Senators suddenly projected a different demeanor than they had in bowing out so meekly in Game 2. Forbes added the Senators third goal on a great backhand over Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph early in the third period. Before the first period was out, 12 different Senators had registered at least one hit (Roy and defenceman Jason York led with three each) and had outhit the Leafs by a 17-8 margin. The Senators scored the first goal of the game for the first time in the series when Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who maybe best personified the club's rediscovered energy, capitalized on a two-man advantage at 5:24. His shot from the left circle slipped between the legs of Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, who faced just three shots in the first period and seemed to suffer from the lack of work. "Early on, they were quite good," said Leafs coach and general manager Pat Quinn. "It was one of those nights when we had all the chances and didn't win." Senators goaltender Tom Barrasso, who had struggled in Game 2, played his best game in an Ottawa uniform, making 33 saves. "Getting the job done is what matters," said Barrasso. "We didn't play our best game. We did a lot of good things, but there are definitely areas we can improve on." The Leafs suffered another injury on the Corel Centre ice surface at 7:30 of the first when big rookie Nik Antropov appeared to injure his right knee while attempting to check Senators defenceman Chris Phillips. He left the game and did not return. The play was more even in the second period when the clubs exchanged goals. Ottawa's Rob Zamuner was credited with his first of the playoffs when he jammed the puck at the side of the crease and it deflected in off the toe of Toronto defenceman Tomas Kaberle. Just 19 seconds after Zamuner's goal, with the crowd still roaring, Toronto's Steve Thomas jumped on a rebound that fell at the feet of Senators goaltender Tom Barrasso and snapped it by him on the glove side at 10:03. Forbes made it 3-1 at 5:27 of the third when he cut in on the right wing and lifted a backhander over Joseph. The Leafs closed the gap to a goal when Dmitri Khristich took a nice pass from Darcy Tucker and snapped the puck behind Barrasso at 10:18 on the power play. Zamuner made it 4-2 at 14:17 with the goal that sent Joseph into a wild rage. Joseph felt he was interfered with by Alfredsson in the crease. "We played really well," said Joseph. "Barrasso played well for them. They got a couple of lucky deflections on their second and third goals. The game could have gone either way. It went their way tonight." Toronto's Jonas Hoglund scored with 17.6 seconds left in regulation time and Joseph out of the net to make it 4-3. The Senators were a completely different team than the one that showed so little in the first two games. Now this is a completely different series.
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