SENATORS 2, RANGERS 0: Jason Spezza scored a pair of goals and Craig Anderson turned aside 41 shots as visiting Ottawa pushed top-seeded New York to the brink of elimination with a victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Mark Stone notched an assist in his NHL debut and defenseman Filip Kuba and Zenon Konopka also picked up helpers for the Senators, who own a 3-2 edge in the series. They will look to close out the series in Game 6 on Monday in Canada’s capital city.
Spezza scored his first goal of the series to give Ottawa its first lead in five games at 9:18 of the first period. Stone threaded the needle on a pinpoint pass to Spezza in the right faceoff circle. Spezza quickly wired a shot past Henrik Lundqvist to quiet the crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Anderson stopped former Boston College star Chris Kreider’s bid for his first NHL goal with a save on an odd-man rush in the first period. He preserved the shutout by stopping captain Ryan Callahan on a partial breakaway midway into the third period.
Spezza scored an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Lundqvist finished with 28 saves. … New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin was in attendance. … Spezza’s goal was just his second in his last 20 postseason games. … New York rookie Carl Hagelin served the final contest of his three-game suspension. … Stone was the Senators’ sixth round selection of the 2010 draft.
