Senators 2 Devils 1, OT: The Senators deserved to win this one, and here's how it happened:
With a little more than four minutes remaining in OT, the Senators' Marian Hossa scoops up a rebound from a Scott Stevens slap shot in the defensive zone, and begins to stumble up the right wing side of the ice.
The aforementioned Stevens picks up Hossa at the blue line one on one. Hossa knows that he can't just blow by Stevens, a great positional defenseman who allows Hossa just enough room to skate, but not enough room to get by.
And here's where he makes a simple move and springs himself free. Hossa chips the puck past Stevens and up the right wing boards. But instead of simply chasing the puck and trying to outskate Stevens, Hossa takes a quick step back toward center ice.
Stevens, forgetting to play the puck, and not the man, takes a step back to the inside to block Hossa -- which is when Hossa, realizing Stevens has fallen for the deke, cuts back to the outside and up the right wing boards to pick up the puck.
Stevens is soon in hot pursuit, desperately straining to catch up with Hossa and strip him of the puck, but it's no use -- Hossa is a half stride ahead of Stevens all the way down the ice.
With a burst of speed, Hossa finally turns the corner on Stevens deep inside the faceoff circle to the left of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Hossa cuts the corner sharply, and drives to the net roughly parallel to the goal line.
And here's where the Devils make a second mistake.
While Hossa and Stevens were racing down the right wing side of the ice, the Devils other defenseman, Colin White, has been doing his job shadowing Ottawa forward Vaclav Varada. But once he sees Hossa turn the corner on Stevens, he leaves Varada to join Stevens in a vain attempt to strip Hossa of the puck before he reaches Brodeur.
Varada is all alone, driving to the net.
And that's where Hossa finds him with a one-handed centering pass. Shot, save Brodeur, rebound, shot, score.
See you in Ottawa Friday night.
Series tied, 3-3.
CORRECTION: It was Devils defenseman Colin White who was on the ice for the OT goal, not Brian Rafalski:
"I shouldn't have gone over into Scotty's side of the ice," White said. "The guy (Hossa) was driving wide. Scotty had him and I went into his lane to hit Hossa. It's my fault and I blame myself."
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