ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -The NHL’s highest-scoring line got shut out in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals.
Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson managed only two assists between them in Ottawa’s 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Ottawa’s goals, both on the power play, were scored by Mike Fisher and Wade Redden, who have a combined seven goals in the playoffs. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Anaheim.
The goals were the first for Fisher and Redden since May 12, when each scored against Buffalo in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Senators had been idle for eight days since that series ended, but they started quickly enough, scoring first in the opening two periods.
Alfredsson and Spezza assisted on Redden’s goal to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead in the second. But the Senators’ top line didn’t convert during a 5-on-3 advantage later in the period.
Alfredsson, the team’s career leader in playoff goals, assists and points, brought an NHL-leading 10 goals into the finals, including four game-winners. Heatley was a 50-goal scorer in the regular season, and the team leader in playoff points with 21 – one more than Spezza.
But was Fisher who scored the game’s first goal on a shot that hit the right post and went in with Anaheim’s Scott Niedermayer off for high-sticking in the opening minutes.
Redden scored during a furious flurry in front of the net in the second.
Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere lost his stick and instead of sliding it toward Giguere, teammate Chris Pronger flung it. A distracted Giguere saw the stick spinning toward him at the same time as the puck.
Ottawa was held to 20 shots.
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