Roloson leads Lightning by Pens in Game 7
Tampa Bay Lightning players swarm goalie Dwayne Roloson to begin celebrating a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the deciding Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series. (April 27, 2011) Credit: AP
When it comes to coming up big in must-win scenarios in the postseason, there aren't many who can match Dwanye Roloson. The 41-year-old goalie made 36 saves for his second playoff shutout, Sean Bergenheim scored, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Penguins, 1-0, in Game 7 last night in Pittsburgh.
Bergenheim's goal 5:41 into the second period was his third in the final four games of the series. Tampa Bay hadn't advanced in the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004.
"It really didn't have anything to do with me; it was all about our guys," said Roloson, acquired from the Islanders Jan. 1. "They did everything humanly possible to prevent them from getting a quality [shot]."
Maybe, but the Penguins -- playing without injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- still managed to throw plenty of rubber at Roloson, including 14 shots in the third period.
Roloson is one of two goalies with a 6-0 record in elimination games. He also won three straight in 2003 when he led the Minnesota Wild to a comeback against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round.
Playing its first Game 7 on the road, the Lightning were the first team this year to win a series after trailing 3-1. Tampa Bay is 3-0 in Game 7s.
In the playoffs for the first time since 2007, the No. 5 seed Lightning will face the top-seeded Capitals in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Penguins lost their second straight Game 7 and fell to 2-6 in such deciding games at home.
Bruins 4, Canadiens 3: Nathan Horton scored 5:43 into overtime for host Boston in Game 7 of its first-round series.
The Bruins were 0-for-21 on the power play in the series, but it didn't matter.
The Canadiens won the first two games in Boston to put the Bruins into a hole they had never been able to recover from. The Bruins were 0-26 in series after falling behind 0-2.
Boston will open the conference semifinals in Philadelphia on Saturday with a chance to avenge last year's epic collapse against the Flyers. The Bruins led that series 3-0 before Philadelphia came back to force a deciding game. In Game 7 in Boston, the Bruins led 3-0 before losing, 4-3.
-- AP
