Oilers, Sabres Keep Playing After Game 7 Overtime Wins

Edmonton Todd Marchant beat Dallas defenseman Grant Ledyard on a breakaway and snapped a shot past Andy Moog with 7:34 left in overtime Tuesday night to give the Oilers a 4-3 victory in Game 7 and win the Western Conference quarterfinal series at Dallas.

Curtis Joseph made several big saves to keep the Oilers in the game. Then Marchant struck as the teams played four on four. Ledyard fell down as he tried to stop Marchant, who beat Moog to his stick side.

“Todd Marchant caught the defense flat-footed,” Oiler Coach Ron Low said. “It was an unbelievable goal.”

But Low knows without Joseph’s stops, there would have been no overtime.

“This was incredible goaltending,” Low said. “We said before the series we had to have great goaltending and we got it. That’s why we pay him $3 million.”

Joseph made a great stop in the third period on Mike Modano to help send the game into overtime. Modano, who had two game-winning goals in the playoffs, batted down the puck and had a clear breakaway to the net only to be met by Joseph, who knocked the point-blank shot away.

Andrei Kovalenko’s goal on a two-on-one break with 19.8 seconds left in the second tied the game, 3-3, for the Oilers.

Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2--Derek Plante scored 5:24 into overtime to lift the Sabres over the Senators in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference series at Buffalo.

Plante, who was also credited with the tying goal, won the game and series on a hard slap shot from the right face-off circle. The drive bounced off Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt’s glove and trickled into the net.

Donald Audette also scored for Buffalo, which was without injured goalie Dominik Hasek. Backup Steve Shields, who shut out the Senators on Sunday to force the deciding game, made 25 saves for his first home victory. He was 0-5-1 at Marine Midland Arena coming into the game.

Wade Redden and Shawn McEachern scored for the Senators--making their first playoff appearance since entering the league in 1992.