San José vs. Colorado 2:1
Marleau's streak continues for Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Patrick Marleau saves his best for the playoffs.
Marleau scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period, his NHL-leading sixth goal of the postseason, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Monday night.
Marleau beat Colorado goalie Patrick Roy from atop the left circle with 6:34 left to break a 4-4 tie and give the Sharks 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
With six goals and four assists, Marleau has a point in each of the Sharks' eight playoff games.
Rob Blake scored two goals for the Avalanche, who had won five straight in San Jose, dating back to Jan. 25, 2000. Roy turned away 34 San Jose shots.
Owen Nolan scored two goals for the Sharks, including an empty-netter with 15.5 seconds left, while Evgeni Nabokov, who was pulled Saturday in San Jose's 8-2 Game 2 loss, stopped 29 shots.
Teemu Selanne tied it for the Sharks with a power-play goal 3:31 into the third period.
The Sharks had a 5-on-3 advantage early in the period when both Blake and Stephane Yelle were tagged with penalties. Just as Yelle's holding penalty ended, Selanne hit a perfectly angled shot from the right side that slid under Roy.
Blake set the tone with a goal just 59 seconds into the game, rebounding a shot that had Nabokov on the other side of the net.
Blake hadn't practiced Sunday and played only 14 minutes in the second game -- he scored two goals -- because of a sore leg. He missed Game 1.
The Sharks nearly tied it later in the first period. Vincent Damphousse appeared to bunt a bouncing puck over Roy's shoulder and into the net. But, under the roar of the crowd, one of the officials apparently already had blown his whistle.
The explanation was the official lost track of the puck, negating the goal.
Scott Thornton took a feed from Mike Ricci and shoved it under Roy from the top of the crease to tie it before the period was over. It was Thornton's third playoff goal.
Sharks captain Owen Nolan finally got his first goal of the playoffs 3:20 into the second period.
Roy came way out of the net to send the puck back down the ice, but made a bad clear. Nolan took advantage with a 45-foot shot that went right between the goalie's legs and into the net.
Just a little more than two minutes later, Nolan took a bouncing shot that caromed off Adam Graves' stick to make it 3-1.
Blake scored his second goal of the game less than three minutes later. Nabokov was tied up in the net with Nolan, who had fallen behind him.
The Avalanche tied it with Alex Tanguay's power-play goal with 4:11 left, then went ahead with just more than a minute to go in the second on Peter Forsberg's wraparound goal.
Nabokov questioned the goal, but it was allowed.
Colorado got off to a slow start with a sluggish 6-3 loss in the opening game, then rebounded with a vengeance with an 8-2 win on Saturday before the series came to San Jose.
Avalanche coach Bob Hartley stirred up a minor controversy when he suggested the Sharks might think about using backup goalie Miikka Kiprusoff rather than Evgeni Nabokov in Game 3 because of the blowout.
Game notes
During the regular season, San Jose won two in Colorado, while the Avalanche won two in San Jose. ... The Sharks are 6-1 in Game 3s of the playoffs under coach Darryl Sutter. ... The Avalanche have killed the last 21 power plays.
Ottawa vs Toronto 2:1
Sens goalie Lalime just falls short of history
OTTAWA (AP) -- Patrick Lalime could laugh about losing his shutout by giving up two goals in the final three minutes.
All that mattered is that his Ottawa Senators hung on for a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.
It made it more exciting," Lalime said with a smile. "Good thing for us is that we had a three-goal lead."
Magnus Arvedson scored twice and Daniel Alfredsson scored the game-winner as 57 minutes of efficient hockey was enough for the Senators' victory.
The Maple Leafs made it close when Gary Roberts scored with 3:16 left, and Travis Green banked in a shot off Ottawa's Radek Bonk in front with 34.5 seconds remaining.
Lalime then came up with two big saves to preserve the victory, stopping Tomas Kaberle's point shot and then diving across the crease to foil Alexander Mogilny's attempt to stuff in the rebound with 12.2 seconds left.
Lalime said he wasn't thinking about a shutout, which would have been his NHL record fifth of the playoffs.
"I just take it as it comes," Lalime said. "All that matters is the win."
Despite the last three minutes, it was a confidence-inducing performance for the composed Senators, who were still kicking themselves for the defensive breakdowns that led to all three goals in Saturday's 3-2 triple-overtime loss.
Monday, the Senators came out strong, limited most of the Maple Leafs' chances to the outside, and were opportunistic on offense.
Arvedson opened the scoring late in the second period, capping a 3-on-2 break, deflecting in Mike Fisher's shot from the right circle.
Havlat played a big role on Arvedson's second goal, with 9:46 remaining. Chasing down a loose puck along the right boards, Havlat cut through middle and fed a cross-ice pass to Arvedson, who one-timed a wicked shot inside the left post.
The Maple Leafs then lost their composure after Alfredsson's goal with 3:35 remaining.
Alfredsson's shot beat Joseph on the glove side, but Joseph was angry at Arvedson, who was pushed into the crease by Toronto's Robert Reichel.
Joseph was among the Maple Leafs who attacked Arvedson behind the Toronto net following the goal.
Toronto's Tie Domi took offense to the play, even after it was pointed out that Arvedson was pushed into Joseph.
"You have to avoid it. That's the call," Domi said. "Maybe at the time, you didn't think it was going to be a big deal. But it ended up being their biggest goal and cost us the game."
The Maple Leafs showed they still had some fight left, but it was too little way too late.
"You get down three to that team, it's a tough team to come back on," Green said. "Obviously we didn't generate enough of what we wanted to tonight."
For Arvedson, who has scored 76 regular-season goals, the two scores were his first in 30 career playoff games.
"It gets you guys off of my back," Arvedson said to a group of reporters. "I don't go home and think about it really much. I relax and I play my game."
Curiously, Fisher was initially credited with the Senators' first goal until a replay showed the puck hit off Arvedson's stick.
"If somebody saw it on the video and gave me the goal, it's OK," Arvedson said. "I'm just so happy that our line played good tonight."
Game notes
Arvedson's first goal was the first in more than two home playoff games against Toronto; Joseph shut out the Senators twice at the Corel Center in last year's first-round series. ... Toronto D Bryan McCabe, who logged a game-high 52 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time in Saturday's triple-overtime victory, is averaging 31:06 of ice time this postseason.
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Mats
Ich werde keinerlei Prognosen, den Ausgang der nächsten Saison betreffend, abgeben!
AC/DC rules!