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By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Different game, same shutout for Ottawa’s No. 1 line.
Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza – the NHL’s highest-scoring line – got blanked again in the Stanley Cup finals, with the Senators losing 1-0 Wednesday night to give the Anaheim Ducks a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 is Saturday in Ottawa.
The unit that combined for 23 goals and 58 points through the first three rounds of the playoffs managed only six shots Wednesday. Spezza’s lone shot in the third was the only one of the period for the threesome.
Just like in Monday’s 3-2 loss, the Senators’ trio was on the ice when the Ducks scored the winning goal. And the damage was again inflicted by Anaheim’s top checking line of Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson and Travis Moen, who had the game-winner Monday.
This time, after a turnover by Heatley, Pahlsson scored from the right circle with a shot between the legs of Ray Emery at 14:16 of the third period.
The Senators have gone more than 90 minutes without scoring in the Cup finals.
Ottawa coach Bryan Murray had said he was going to keep the Alfredsson-Heatley-Spezza line together for Game 2, wanting to give them time to meet the challenge against Niedermayer, Pahlsson and Moen.
But he contradicted himself by splitting up the line to start the game.
Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza got together for the first time nearly six minutes into the game on Anaheim’s first power play, helping kill it off.
They were together later in the first period, and shared a couple of shifts in the second.
The trio killed off the remaining 1:37 of an Anaheim penalty that carried over into the third period.
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