Senators Win, Force Game 7

Daniel Alfredsson delivered on the first part of his guarantee. Now he and the Ottawa Senators have a chance to fulfill their promise.

Mike Fisher scored 1:47 into the second overtime to give Ottawa a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night at Ottawa and force a seventh and deciding game in the first-round playoff series.

“I think people questioned our pride and our character,” Fisher said. “We didn’t have a great Game 5 when we needed one. We bounced back and we were able to get a big win, but we still have a lot to prove in Game 7. It’s going to be huge for us.”

The series finale is Tuesday night in Toronto.

“Our crowd will be with us,” Maple Leaf Coach Pat Quinn said. “Hopefully, we’ll be a bit better than we were tonight.”

After a 2-0 loss Friday put Ottawa on the brink of elimination, Alfredsson -- the Senator captain -- guaranteed his club would win Games 6 and 7.

Fisher made Alfredsson’s promise come true in Game 6 when he redirected Antoine Vermette’s pass across the crease into a wide-open left side, setting off a wild celebration.

“It happened so fast that I’d have to see it again to visualize it,” Fisher said.

Vermette, held out of the lineup the previous three games, recorded his first point of the series.

“Our captain said big things, and that’s something that brings you closer as a team,” Vermette said. “It’s not just one player. Daniel played a great game, and the guys wanted to play hard and come up with some character and passion. That was one key tonight. We didn’t give up.”

Toronto seemed determined to prevent that after Maple Leaf defenseman Bryan McCabe had scored during a five-on-three power play 4:14 in.

The Senators were stifled by Maple Leaf goalie Ed Belfour until Zdeno Chara scored the tying goal 4:55 into the third period.

Moments after the 6-foot-9 defenseman flattened Joe Nieuwendyk with a big hit in Toronto’s zone, Chara circled behind the Maple Leaf net. He spun around as he approached the left circle and put a wrist shot past Belfour, just inside the left post.

He pumped his fist repeatedly as the sellout crowd of 18,500 erupted in cheers. The goal ended Belfour’s shutout streak at 116 minutes 55 seconds.

“I thought we had good energy from the start,” Senator Coach Jacques Martin said. “But there’s no doubt it gave us a big lift.”

The Senators hadn’t put a goal past Belfour since Chris Phillips scored eight minutes into the third period of Ottawa’s 4-1 win in Game 4.

Belfour also held the Senators scoreless for 157:45 earlier in the series while recording shutouts in Games 2 and 3.

“We didn’t think it was going to be easy, by any means,” McCabe said. “We worked hard. We came up on the short end, but we’re confident and we’re in a great spot heading home for Game 7.”

Saturday’s Late Game

Brendan Morrison scored 2:28 into the third overtime to give Vancouver a 5-4 victory over the Flames at Calgary, Canada, forcing a seventh game in the first-round series.

Calgary overcame a 4-0 deficit to force overtime, with Chris Clark tying it with 7:04 left in regulation.

But Morrison sent the series back to Vancouver for Game 7 tonight, beating goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to end the longest game of the season and the longest in Vancouver history.