Sens rally, knot series at 2. Game 5 Sat. in NY

                     OTTAWA---The Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, full of twists and turns, will last at least six games.

                     After leading 2-0 in the first period Wednesday night, the Rangers lost Game 4 to the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in overtime, and their brief grip on the best-of-seven series loosened.

                      At Scotiabank Place, the Senators stormed back with two goals in the second period and after a scoreless third period, Kyle Turris won it on a high glove-side wrister from the left side at 2:42 of overtime that capped the comeback in the second overtime game of the series, now even at 2-2.

                      Game 5 is Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers won Game 1, 4-2, but dropped Game 2, 3-2 on Chris Neil’s overtime goal. Game 6 is back here on Monday.

                      “Obviously, we dipped in the second and we’ve got to stay out of the box,” said Rangers captain Ryan Callahan. “We’ve got a two-goal lead and they’re a good enough team to come back and they did. We know what’s at stake, it’s a best of three now and we go back home. We had a loss before and we responded. ”

                      With two quick power-play goals---from Anton Stralman at 49 seconds and Ryan Callahan at 6:10---the Rangers took the lead for the fourth consecutive game. 

                     The Senators were playing without captain Daniel Alfredsson, sidelined with a concussion, but center Jason Spezza said before the game: “We don’t know how he feels; we can’t sit around waiting for him to come back.” And they didn’t.

                        In the second period, with the Rangers up by a pair, Matt Carkner hooked Marc Staal, but the Rangers could not convert with the man-advantage. That was when the Senators starting turning up the heat. Craig Anderson (31 saves) made a big save on Marc Staal at 7:04, and Spezza fed the puck up ice for a 2 on 1. Matt Carkner, playing after serving a one-game  suspension for ambushing Boyle, slid the puck past Ryan McDonagh to Milan Michalek, who lifted a backhander past Henrik Lundqvist, who came into the game with a .951 save percentage and a 39-save shutout here on Monday. All of a sudden, the Scotiabank crowd, which had been booing, roared alive.  

                   Zach Smith’s high shoulder to Ruslan Fedotenko’s head near the blueline left the Senators a man short, and Jesse Winchester saved a goal by clearing the puck from behind Anderson in the crease. That would have restored some order for the Rangers.     

                   Instead, Artem Anisimov’s hook with 3:12 left gave the Senators more life, and tied it when Lundqvist just didn’t get enough of Sergei Gonchar’s blast from near the right circle, and the puck trickled through with Turris battling in front with 2:10

remaining.

                  “You’re playing with fire,” said coach John Tortorella. “They have a good power play. Two dumb penalties, (Stu Bickel went off for holding a stick at 8:11) Artie’s especially, and it ends up biting you. It’s frustrating to lose in overtime… I still think we need to have more guys involved.” After the two power play goals, the Rangers were 0-for-5.

                    Gonchar’s goal blunted a fast start for the Blueshirts. Just 39 seconds after the opening faceoff, the Rangers, who were 1 for 11 on the power-play in three games, had an opportunity when Zach Smith shoved McDonagh head-first into the glass from behind. Stralman, cheating in from the right point, fired a wrister by Anderson ten seconds later. Chris Kreider, playing his second NHL game, just missed making it 2-0 when his shot went through the crease. But Callahan extended the lead to two at 6:10 while defenseman Erik Karlsson was in the box for tripping Anisimov. It was Callahan’s second of the series. Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik assisted on both goals.

                “You’re always disappointed,” said Lundqvist, who had 28 saves, “but we can’t get stuck here. I said it after the second game, we didn’t expect this to be easy. I still think we did a lot of good things in the third, we just came up short. We had a lead, but it was early, there was a lot of hockey left.”