Flyers goaltender finds redemption

By Associated Press,
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 28, 2003

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OTTAWA - Roman Cechmanek stopped 33 shots for his second career playoff shutout and the Flyers beat the Senators 2-0 Sunday night to even their best-of-seven East series.

Cechmanek made up for his dismal performance in Friday's opener by posting his first shutout of the playoffs. Simon Gagne and Mark Recchi scored for the Flyers, who tied the second-round series at 1.

"We were ready for (Sunday's) game," Cechmanek said. "Maybe I was too emotional the first game. I have to play like in the regular season."

Gagne scored early in the first and Recchi added another late against Patrick Lalime, who made 21 saves.

Ottawa, who had a league-best 113 points this season, fell to 0-3 in second-round Game 2s. The Senators went 0-for-6 on the power play. The Flyers were 0-for-3.

It was the third sellout in five home games for the Senators this postseason. Before this season, Ottawa failed to sell out only one of 20 home playoff games.

Gagne dampened the enthusiasm of the white towel-waving crowd when he scored his fourth goal of the playoffs at 6:57 of the first.

Also, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he is confident the sale of the Senators will be completed soon. But Bettman said he had no official announcement concerning ownership of the team, which still is under bankruptcy protection.

Toronto businessman Eugene Melnyk submitted a formal offer to purchase the Senators, and Bettman said the league has an agreement with the founder of Biovail. "I don't want to give you a timetable, but it's weeks more than months," Bettman said.

WILD 3, CANUCKS 2: Sergei Zholtok and Wes Walz scored just more than a minute apart early in the third for visiting Minnesota, which evened the series at 1.

After the Canucks staged a furious flurry in the closing seconds, tempers flared after the buzzer and several fights broke out near the benches. Five players were given misconducts, including a game misconduct to Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell. He had been sent off for roughing seven seconds earlier and came back onto the ice.

The Canucks, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third in Game 1, pulled goalie Dan Cloutier with two minutes left. They got within a goal when Mattias Ohlund scored with 1:32 left.

Trent Klatt almost tied it on a scramble with 54.7 seconds left, but Mitchell closed his hand on the puck in the crease. The infraction went undetected, and a video review showed that the puck never crossed the line.

Ducks have look of vets

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Playing four overtime games and winning all six playoff contests by one goal, the Ducks are proving cool under pressure.

"We played a lot of one-goal games in the regular season, so we're used to being in that position, up one goal or down one," Anaheim's Paul Kariya said. "We don't panic either way."

The Ducks won 24 regular-season games by one goal, tying New Jersey for the league high.

While goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been the key to Anaheim's success during his first postseason, the Ducks have been extremely well-balanced. Ten players have scored.

"We can't win without everybody," rookie coach Mike Babcock said. "We try to make them feel that way, and we try to point that out to them. And they've produced that way."

Meanwhile, Dallas right wing Bill Guerin, out since having thigh surgery in February, appears probable for Game 3. Tippett said he is a game-time decision.

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