Senators Beat Bruins, Capitals Edge Maple Leafs

By ESPN

Clarke MacArthur spent almost two full seasons recovering from a concussion, wondering if he would ever be able to return to the Senators.

"There's nothing like living in the NHL and living in these playoffs," he said after scoring a power-play goal 6:30 into overtime to help Ottawa beat Boston 3-2 in Game 6 on Sunday and advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"It (retirement) is something everyone's going to have to deal with one day," said the 32-year-old forward, who was injured in the fourth game of last season and didn't come back until four games left in this one. "But I want to stretch it out as long as I can."

Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris scored five minutes apart in the second to give the Senators a 2-1 lead, and Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots for Ottawa. The Senators, who hadn't won a postseason series since 2013, will play the New York Rangers in the second round.

Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the Bruins, who got goals from Drew Stafford and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins did not get off a shot in the extra period -- the fourth overtime game of the series and the 17th of the NHL playoffs, tying the record for an opening round. Washington's 2-1 win at Toronto later broke the record.

"We came in here, took a deep breath (and) realized that, `Hey, tie game. Next shot wins. Let's get back to business," Anderson said. "That's all we did."

MacArthur sustained a concussion on Oct. 14, 2015 -- Game 4 of last season -- and hadn't played since, missing 156 games before he finally passed a baseline test in the last weeks of this season and was cleared to return. He played in only four games this year, without recording a point.

"You've been off for a couple of years and you're thinking, `Yeah, I should make this play' or `I should be able to do that," he said. "I've just been trying to stick with it and be patient, and you know it's slowly coming."

MacArthur scored in Game 2 of the series, and then got past David Pastrnak on his way into the Bruins' zone in overtime, tempting the Boston forward into pulling him down from behind. Just 36 seconds into the power play, MacArthur grabbed a puck that deflected off Tuukka Rask and beat him on the rebound for the series-winner.

"It was off his paddle and went right to me. I was just lucky enough to be in the right spot," MacArthur said. "You get opportunities like that to put them away, you've got to put them away. It's just awesome that we were able to."

The Bruins made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, rallying after firing the winningest coach in franchise history and the one that led them to the 2011 Stanley Cup title. They went 18-8 after Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien, but lost their last two to finish third -- behind Ottawa -- in the Atlantic Division.

That left them matched up with the Senators in the first round -- a bad draw against a team that beat them all four times in the regular season and six straight overall. After winning Game 1, Boston lost three in a row before forcing a fifth game with a double-overtime victory on Friday night.

Cassidy, who served out the season as the interim coach, said he "absolutely, 100 percent" wants to be back.

"That will be determined by management, whether I continue to be the head coach," he said. "And what players will be here will be determined by management."

The Bruins were hit with three delay of game penalties in the first period for sending the puck over the glass, but on none of those power plays did Ottawa even manage as much as a shot on goal. Instead, Boston took a 1-0 lead with just under two minutes left in the first when Stafford converted on a tripping penalty against Mark Stone.

But Ryan tied it for Ottawa on a power play early in the second, then Turris gave the Senators a 2-1 lead about five minutes later. It stayed that way until Bergeron tied it about two minutes into the third.

Capitals 2, Maple Leafs 1

Marcus Johansson came through to help the Washington Capitals get another big overtime win in a series that had five go games go beyond regulation.

Now they get to rest up for the defending champions.

Johansson stuffed his second goal of the game past Frederik Andersen at 6:31 of overtime, lifting the Capitals to a series-winning 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 on Sunday night.

"They gave us everything they had, and we had to work hard for it and we had to stick with it for a long time," Johansson said. "This is the playoffs. It's going to be tight. It's never going to be an easy ride."

Auston Matthews broke a scoreless tie with his fourth goal of the series for Toronto at 7:45 of the third, and Johansson tied it with less than 8 minutes to go.

Braden Holtby made 37 saves for the Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals, who will next face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight year in a series that begins in Washington on Thursday night.

"We're ready," Johansson said. "We're excited. We can't wait to get going. We've worked hard for it. We've worked all year and all summer to get back into this position, and now we're here."

Andersen was sharp with 34 saves.

"Andersen was unbelievable, obviously, keeping them in the game," the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin said. "They scored on a lucky bounce ... but after that we don't panic, we stay focused, we stay the same, we stay on the same program that we want to do .We had pretty good chances after that and finally (Johansson) scored and tied it."

It was a bitter end for the Maple Leafs, who made a 26-point leap in the standings during the regular season as they jumped from last place in the NHL to the postseason and then nearly beat the best team in hockey. All six games against of this series were decided by a goal.

"The loss is tough for sure," Toronto's Morgan Rielly said. "But when we got in here and looked at one another (after the game), there's a lot of pride that can be taken. This is just a step in the right direction. We're going to continue to grow, continue to get better and see how far we can take it."

Toronto had the best chances in an opening period where few existed. William Nylander had the two finest looks, both coming off strong work along the boards and down low by fellow rookie Zach Hyman. The Capitals had their best chance in the final minute of the first when Ovechkin fired a shot that Andersen struggled initially to locate.

Starting his 34th career playoff game, Andersen settled into truly fine form in the second. He stopped Evgeny Kuznetsov in tight moments into the period and then made his sharpest stop, to that point, with just under 10 minutes gone when he stuck a left pad out on Justin Williams' shot on an odd-man rush.

Jake Gardiner nearly scored for the Leafs a few minutes earlier, but his blast from the point pinged off the crossbar.

From there it was more Andersen.

He stopped Kuznetsov again on a dangerous look and then Andre Burakovsky in the high slot as chants of "Freddy" came from a towel-waving Air Canada Centre crowd.

The Leafs actually outshot the Caps 14-11 in the second (and 38-36 overall), but the scariest chances came from the Capitals by the end of a scoreless 40 minutes.

Toronto went long stretches without testing Holtby until Morgan Rielly dumped a puck into the right corner. Instead of wheeling around the boards, the puck bounced awkwardly into the slot where it was chased down by the 19-year-old Matthews, who roofed a shot into the top right corner for the 1-0 lead.

Matthews joined Wendel Clark as the second teenager ever to score a goal in four straight playoff games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Matthews, who went pointless in the first two games of the series, was the first player picked No. 1 overall by the Leafs since Clark in 1985.

Johansson tied it about five minutes later, the sequence starting with a pass by Martin Marincin that went astray in the neutral zone. The puck found its way to the Capitals' winger, who fought off Kasperi Kapanen's pursuits before beating Andersen short-side.

"You just saw a little opening over his pad," Johansson said. "It hit his pad and then something else before it went in. ... He's a big, good goalie. It's not easy to score, and you have to sometimes find those maybe different kind of shots on goal to get the puck in the net. I'm just happy they went in."

The Leafs had a nervous moment with 72 seconds left in regulation when Nikita Zaitsev inadvertently bumped Andersen in the head. Andersen was forced to leave two starts late in the regular season after taking hits to the head, but he remained in the game.

Saturday, April 22 Scoreboard

St. Louis 4, Minnesota 3 (OT)

Game 5 -- Blues won 4-1

New York Rangers 3, Montrela 1

Game 6 -- Rangers won 4-2

Edmonton 3, San Jose 1

Game 6 -- Oilers won 4-2

Sunday, April 23 Scoreboard

Ottawa 3, Boston 2 (OT)

Game 6 -- Senators won 4-2

Washington 2, Toronto 1 (OT)

Game 6 -- Capitals won 4-2

Monday, April 24 Schedule

No games scheduled

Tuesday, April 25 Schedule

No games scheduled

Wednesday, April 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Nashville at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Game 1 -- Series tied 0-0

Edmonton at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.

Game 1 -- Series tied 0-0