Nhl Playoff

HENRIK LUNDQVIST made 39 saves for his fourth NHL playoff shutout, and Brian Boyle scored for the third straight game as the visiting New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators, 1-0, on Monday night. The Rangers, who lost Game 2 at home in overtime, lead the best-of-seven, first-round series 2-1. Game 4 will be Wednesday night in Ottawa before the series returns to New York. Lundqvist's biggest save came in the last minute when he robbed Kyle Turris on the doorstep with a quick pad stop.

ADAM HENRIQUE scored his second goal of the game at 3:47 of the second overtime, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2, in Game 7 early Friday to advance to second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Devils wasted a 2-0 lead in the third period, then recovered and earned a matchup with the Flyers in the East semifinals. Stephen Gionta also scored in regulation for New Jersey, which won a series for the first time since 2007. Martin Brodeur made 43 saves for the Devils in a game that ended on April 27 - the 20th anniversary of Brodeur's first playoff appearance for New Jersey.

A BYE IN the first week of the regular season is no way to begin the year. But, as Moses first said high atop Mount Sinai, it is what it is. There's no sense griping over last week's early bye, Soul players insist. The ramifications won't be felt until the middle of the season when the collective aches and pains sure could use a week off. The Soul's schedule is unfriendly in that regard, too. The AFL plays 18 games over 20 weeks, so each team has 2 weeks off. The Soul's second bye isn't until Week 19. When the Soul take on New Orleans on Sunday, they will start a run of 17 games in 17 weeks.

LOS ANGELES - Although Mike Richards has only been in Los Angeles for less than a year, he has a pretty good idea what 45 years of simmering frustration will sound like when his Kings take the ice with the Stanley Cup nearly in reach. "That's probably one of the loudest rinks I've ever played in, and it's going to be even louder tomorrow," the center said Sunday, already anticipating the energy at Staples Center for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night. A coronation just feels imminent for these Kings, who opened the Finals by adding two more victories in New Jersey to the longest run of road perfection in NHL playoff history - 10-0 this season, and 12-0 dating to last season.

Kevin Stevens had been mystified. The Pittsburgh Penguins' most prolific goal scorer in the playoffs hadn't scored a goal in two games, and even he, the eternal optimist, was starting to wonder what was going on. "I'll pick it up," Stevens promised hopefully after the Penguins' off-day practice on Thursday. Sure enough, Stevens was true to his word. A solid candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs, Stevens scored two goals last night to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota North Stars in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals at the Civic Arena.

It's anybody's guess what goes on inside the head of a struggling goalie, but according to Carey Price, whatever is going on in his head is not the result of anything the Flyers are doing. Yes, the 20-year-old Montreal rookie said, the Flyers are doing a lot of yapping in an attempt to throw him off his game. And they really gave him an earful after they put three shots behind him in the second period of the 3-2 Canadiens' loss Monday night, which gave the Flyers a two-games-to-one lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

So this is how Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, nervous rookie, played in the second NHL playoff game of his young-but-rising career: He frustrated Pittsburgh superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in even-strength situations. He blocked a team-high seven shots. He scored a key goal that gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead en route to a series-clinching, 5-1 win Sunday over a Penguins team that, before the playoffs started, was favored to drink from the Stanley Cup. "Gus was unbelievable from start to finish," said Mr. Postseason himself, Danny Briere, who scored his fifth goal of the series.

So this is how Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, nervous rookie, played in the second NHL playoff game of his young-but-rising career: He frustrated Pittsburgh superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in even-strength situations. He blocked a team-high seven shots. He scored a key goal that gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead en route to a series-clinching, 5-1 win Sunday over a Penguins team that, before the playoffs started, was favored to drink from the Stanley Cup. "Gus was unbelievable from start to finish," said Mr. Postseason himself, Danny Briere, who scored his fifth goal of the series.

Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Ossi Vaananen will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a knee injury after being hit by a car. Vaananen, 22, was struck Saturday night outside Office Depot Center in Sunrise, Fla., the Coyotes said yesterday. He had played in the YoungStars game at the NHL All-Star weekend and was waiting at a taxi stand when a driver lost control of his car and hit him, the team said. An MRI Monday disclosed a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. The Arizona Republic said two reporters from Vaananen's native Finland also were injured.

It had been a year since Jim Montgomery played in an NHL playoff game, but it took the forward a little more than one day to get ready. With Flyers forwards John LeClair and John Druce sidelined with injuries, Montgomery, 26, was called up from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Friday morning and pressed into action during yesterday's 5-4 overtime loss to Tampa Bay in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Montgomery, Hershey's leading scorer this season, found out about the assignment Saturday morning and was able to drive to Philadelphia in time to catch the afternoon flight to Tampa.