ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson sandwiched goals around teammate Chris Phillips putting the puck into his own net and the Senators trailed the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 through two periods of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday night.
The Ducks outshot the Senators 7-5 over the hectic stretch of 2 minutes, 44 seconds when the three goals were scored.
Two came on the same elbowing penalty to Ottawa’s Christoph Schubert.
Alfredsson scored short-handed at 17:38 to get Ottawa within 3-2. With Ryan Getzlaf chasing him down the right side, Alfredsson shot the puck under the crossbar for his 14th goal of the playoffs.
Less than a minute later, the Ducks extended their lead to 4-2 on Francois Beauchemin’s power-play goal, a hard shot that caught Senators goalie Ray Emery well out of the crease.
Early in the second, Alfredsson’s first goal came on a slap shot from the middle of the slot that went over Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s left shoulder and left Ottawa trailing 2-1.
Phillips almost tied the game with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in the period, but his shot deflected off the right post.
Then Phillips committed the biggest gaffe of the finals, putting the puck into his own net at 15:44 and boosting Anaheim’s lead to 3-1. Phillips brought the puck from behind the left side of the net, but Emery was slow getting back in the crease and Phillips’ pass went in off the goalie’s skates.
Emery never saw the puck, apparently thinking it was on Phillips’ stick. A grim-faced Phillips skated back to the bench with the crowd roaring.
The Ducks led 2-0 in the first period on goals by Andy McDonald and Rob Niedermayer. The Ducks outshot Ottawa 5-3.
McDonald scored his 10th goal of the playoffs, and fifth in the finals, on a power play at 3:41. With Phillips in his face, McDonald’s wrist shot from the right circle went underneath Emery, who didn’t have his stick on the ice.
The Ducks had a two-man advantage for 15 seconds after consecutive penalties to Tom Preissing and Anton Volchenkov. McDonald’s goal came just as Ottawa’s first penalty expired.
The Senators nearly tied the game halfway through the period on a backhander by Jason Spezza, but Beauchemin bailed out Giguere by getting the blade of his stick on the puck during a scramble in front of the net.
The Ducks extended their lead to 2-0 on Niedermayer’s fifth playoff goal, a backhander from the right circle that hit Emery’s right arm and went in.
Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger, who missed Game 4 with a one-game suspension for hitting Ottawa’s Dean McAmmond with an elbow to the head, left the bench after taking a hard hit from Antoine Vermette, but returned with 5:25 remaining in the period.
The Senators came into Game 5 trailing 3-1 and facing elimination in the best-of-seven series. They were especially physical from the drop of the puck, but committed the two early penalties and played from behind the rest of the period.
Alfredsson was booed every time he touched the puck by Anaheim fans still smarting from his action in Game 4 Monday. He faked a shot on the net, reloaded and fired the puck from center ice at Scott Niedermayer late in the second period.
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