SCOREBOARD
Friday, May 11
Anaheim at Detroit (7:30 p.m. EDT). The teams split the four regular-season meetings, all won by the home team.
STAR
Thursday
-Oleg Saprykin, Senators, scored the go-ahead goal at 7:41 of the third period to help Ottawa defeat Buffalo 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
SURGING SENATORS
Ottawa is 9-2 this postseason after defeating top-seeded Buffalo 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night. The Senators have won five of their last six series openers, including all three in this year’s playoffs.
AGAINST THE ODDS
Buffalo had its streak of series-opening wins snapped at five with Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to Ottawa in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night. The Sabres have lost 13 of 14 best-of-seven series when they drop Game 1, with the lone win coming against the Senators in 1997.
AYE, CAPTAIN
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson scored for the third straight game and added an assist to help the Senators defeat Buffalo 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.
FIRED
The NHL Players’ Association fired executive director Ted Saskin on Thursday, two months after placing him on a paid leave of absence following allegations that he and senior director Ken Kim read players’ e-mails. The NHLPA said it was considering its options with Kim, and would have no further comment at this time.
NOT READY
Senators forward Patrick Eaves did not play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against Buffalo on Thursday, but may return for Game 2 on Saturday, Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. Eaves has missed the last seven postseason games because of a head injury he received in the second period of Game 3 of Ottawa’s first-round series against Pittsburgh.
WELCOME BACK
Anaheim center Todd Marchant is expected to play Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against Detroit after missing more than a month because of a torn groin.
IN THE FOLD
Toronto signed forward Alexei Ponikarovsky on Thursday to a three-year contract extension worth $6.315 million. The 27-year-old tied a career-high in goals (21) and established new personal bests in assists (24) and points (45) in 71 games.
IN TROUBLE
Nashville owner Craig Leipold’s son, who is promotions manager of the team, was arrested early Thursday and charged with drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. Christopher Leipold was interviewed by police after a woman said he struck her vehicle in a downtown Nashville parking garage, then parked nearby and walked away.
SPEAKING
“That’s the major difference of this team from maybe the teams in the past. We’re more experienced. We’re not as nervous in the room before games. We’re a little more comfortable. We’ve all gone through this before. The second time around is a little easier.” – Jason Spezza, who had a goal and an assist in Ottawa’s 5-2 win at Buffalo in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.