Monday, May 14, 2007

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Joseph Corvo never scored a bigger goal, and the Ottawa Senators have never been in such an advantageous position in the playoffs.

Believe it, these Senators are for real. Corvo's bouncing shot skipped in at 4:58 of the second overtime, giving Ottawa a 4-3 win over the stunned and suddenly silenced Buffalo Sabres in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night.

The goal gave Ottawa a 2-0 series lead heading home for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday, and marks the first time the Senators have won the first two games of a series.

"It's obviously the biggest goal of my life," the defenseman said of his second career playoff goal. "Just total elation when it went in. It was obviously just a great moment, something I'll always remember."

It'll be a difficult one to forget in Ottawa. The Senators now have a prime chance to advance to their first Stanley Cup Finals. The Senators overcame an early 2-0 deficit, and rebounded after allowing Buffalo to force overtime when co-captain Daniel Briere scored with 5.8 seconds left.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy. These guys won the Presidents' Trophy, and have been great at home all year," Senators forward Jason Spezza said. "But I think we had a quiet confidence in ourselves."

Spezza had three assists. His biggest was setting up Corvo's goal, when Spezza beat Chris Drury on a faceoff to the right of the Buffalo net. Spezza drew the puck back to the point, where Corvo took a step into the middle and slapped in a knuckler that one-hopped in past goalie Ryan Miller.

"A dirty puck off the slap shot, a drop-shot that catches the edge," Miller said. "It's a terrible way to end a game."

The top-seeded Sabres continued their uncharacteristic stretch of inconsistent play following a 5-2 loss on Thursday. And they lost Saturday's game by producing an unlikely first after going 40-0 in the regular season and 6-0 this postseason when holding a two-goal lead.

"We have 24 hours to wrap our heads around it," Miller said. "If they can come in here and steal some games, we're definitely capable of it. Tonight shouldn't leave us feeling too good. We should come out hungry."

They did that Saturday, but couldn't hold an early lead.

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.