Decisive goal follows poor line change by Senators

The key behind Ducks winger Dustin Penner’s game-winning, third-period goal in Game 4 was a sloppy line change by Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden, who allowed Teemu Selanne to enter the Senators’ zone with the puck.

“It was a bad decision in the neutral zone,” said Redden, who was on the ice for two goals scored by the Ducks in their 3-2 victory Monday night at Scotiabank Place. “I jumped on the ice and kind of looked up....

“I should’ve just backed off, obviously. I underestimated probably the quickest guy in the league as far as getting to the puck. A bad read cost us.”

Ottawa Coach Bryan Murray agreed.

Penner’s “goal was obviously a bad goal on our part,” Murray said. “[Defenseman] Chris Phillips had broken his blade.... Wade had a change when the rush was taking place and he got flat-footed at the bench, and they took advantage.”

Netminder Ray Emery, who finished with 18 saves, said he did not notice his teammate’s mistake.

“Teemu came down the wing, and it was a situation where I was just playing the shot,” Emery said. “He kind of scooped it around to the backdoor guy who was driving just ahead of our other defensemen. [Selanne] just made a good play.”

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The Ducks’ Andy McDonald, who scored two goals and picked up an assist on Penner’s score, said the key to the winning goal was the play made by defenseman Ric Jackman, who beat Ottawa’s Chris Kelly for the puck in the Ducks’ zone.

“They were forechecking pretty hard,” McDonald said of the Senators. “[Jackman] made a nice soft pass to me, and I just kind of waited and they had two guys come in; I just chipped it out.”

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Although the Senators find themselves one loss from elimination, they seemed more frustrated than defeated heading into Game 5 after playing a dominant first period on Monday.

“We played well, [but] we didn’t get rewarded until the last second of the first,” Murray said of his team, which took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Daniel Alfredsson at 19:59. “We had certainly enough shooting chances and opportunities to jump on them.”

The Senators held a 13-2 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes but were outshot by the Ducks, 19-10, thereafter.

“Certainly, we felt if we could have gotten a little more reward, it probably would have been better,” Murray said. “But that’s hockey. That’s what happens. That’s what a goaltender is for.” He added that the Ducks’ Jean-Sebastien Giguere “didn’t give us any more.”

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The NHL’s 30 general managers met Monday and decided that as soon as next season a minor penalty could be assessed to players who deliver a hit to the head.

The GMs reviewed tape and talked about the issue, which has been a problem all season. The league plans to come up with the specific language of the rule before it passes through the competition committee and is eventually approved by the board of governors.

With the Ducks’ Chris Pronger being suspended twice during the postseason for this reason, GM Brian Burke said the key to the rule would be determining what constitutes a hit to the head.

“There’s going to be an attempt to draft some type of rule or enforcement provision about a hit directly to the head and nothing but the head,” Burke said. “My prediction is that it’s going to be hard to draft that.

“Most of the hits we have to the head are also to some other part of the body, so it’s going to be hard to do. I think we owe it to our players to try.”

lonnie.white@latimes.com