Senators top Canadiens in opener with big third period

Jakob Silfverberg, Marc Methot and Guillaume Latendresse scored third-period goals as the visiting Ottawa Senators beat Montreal, 4-2, last night in the opener of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

The Senators won despite being outshot 50-31 by the Canadiens. Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson made 48 saves.

Canadiens center Lars Eller suffered a concussion plus facial and dental fractures on a hit from Ottawa defenseman Eric Gryba. Eller was taken from the ice on a stretcher after the hit. He is spending the night in a hospital, the Canadiens said.

A pool of blood was left on the ice near the Canadiens' blue line after Eller was caught with his head down on an open-ice hit by Gryba. Eller, who touched the puck before contact, eventually sat up, bleeding heavily from his forehead. He was placed on the stretcher, wheeled out of the Bell Center and taken to the hospital.

Eller had taken a pass up the middle at the blue line from Canadiens defenseman Raphael Diaz and was reaching for the puck on the hit.

"I stepped up to make a hit. I kept my shoulder down. He received the puck by the time I hit him," Gryba said. "I saw the replay. My elbow was down and there was no intent to hurt him whatsoever and I hope that he's OK. I'm not out here to hurt anybody and it's never good to seeing anything like that. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery."

Red Wings 5, Ducks 4: Gustav Nyquist scored a power-play goal at 1:21 of overtime after the Red Wings blew a three-goal lead in the third period. Johan Franzen scored two goals for the Wings. The series is tied at 1-1.

Blues 2, Kings 1: Barret Jackman scored with 51 seconds left in regulation to lift host St. Louis into a 2-0 lead over Los Angeles in a Western Conference quarterfinal series. Patrik Berglund had scored earlier in the third period for the Blues. Brian Elliott made 28 saves for St. Louis.

-- AP