There were two other conference semifinal series which got underway earlier tonight. In both instances, the road team prevailed to steal home ice.

In East Rutherford, the Ottawa Senators used a four-goal first period explosion to hang on and pull out a 5-4 Game 1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Coming out with solid aggression and physicality, they stunned the Devils by getting the first four on Martin Brodeur. The barrage started when Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson plowed into Richard Matvichuk forcing a turnover which led to a Tom Preissing right point blast which Jason Spezza deflected home after beating Paul Martin to the spot for the shocking start just 1:30 in. It was the beginning of a dreadful period for Martin and his teammates.

Entering the series, we said the Sens had a distinct advantage on the blueline in terms of offense. That began to show when Joe Corvo snapped a wrister past Brodeur’s outstretched glove for a power play tally 5:19 later for a two-goal lead. Stunningly, it was the first of three consecutive unassisted goals in which the Sens threatened to blow the Devils out.

During a New Jersey power play a minute after Ray Emery dove across to deny Brian Gionta of a goal, a brutal Brian Rafalski blind giveaway in his end led directly to a Dean McAmmond shorthanded goal which also was labeled high to the glove side. It was a theme all night. Up three, the Sens weren’t satisfied. Less than two minutes later, 50-goal sniper Dany Heatley took advantage of an awful pinch by Martin to put his club up four. After forcing Martin at the blueline, Heatley walked in two-on-none and lasered one top shelf for his first of the series as boos rained down.

Ironically enough though, while the Sens were scoring those two unassisted goals to go up 4-0, the Devils had already started to find their game. If not for a couple of great stops from Emery on Gionta, it would’ve been much closer. Despite being down four, they never seemed out of it. Seconds after Emery thwarted Jamie Langenbrunner on a break-in, that was confirmed when the pesky Langenbrunner stayed with it to setup rookie Travis Zajac on the doorstep for his first career playoff tally which cut it to three before the period concluded.

It was the start of a nice comeback by a very resilient hockey club that never seems to quit. Try telling the Sens. In the second, the Devils would get closer when sniper Brian Gionta continued to stay hot by taking a Scott Gomez pass on the right wing and blasting a slapper past Emery off the far post. It was the fourth straight game the Rochester native had tallied.

The play was created by Gomez’ speed. The top pivot was particularly dangerous in this period and came awfully close to tying it later on. When Gomez is on, the Devils are a very potent offense which can strike at any moment.

It looked like New Jersey might come all the way back. Especially when rookie D Andy Greene’s left point slapper got through a screen and surprised Emery just 2:37 later. It was his second goal of the playoffs. He took advantage of some good board work from Langenbrunner and Zach Parise as they cashed in on an awful turnover at the blueline by Mike Comrie to combine for the Devils’ third goal- slicing the deficit to one with 15:03 still to play in the stanza.

The rest of the period saw a shaken Sens’ club hang on for dear life looking about as scared as humanly possible. Their play in their end was jittery. And a turnover at the blueline late in the second nearly proved costly but Gomez’ wrister off a two-on-one just missed the far post.

For as strong a 20 minutes as they played, Erik Rasmussen took a mistimed hooking penalty with only 18 seconds left. It would prove damaging early in the third when Wade Redden struck for the Sens’ second PPG of the night. The play was made possible by Spezza, who closed off Jay Pandolfo to keep a play alive along the left boards. He then worked a give-and-go with Heatley before finding a vacated Redden at the right high slot to blast one high to the glove side past Brodeur who frustratingly slammed his Gatorade bottle. FSNY’s Chico Resch tried to make an excuse but the great goalie knew it was one he could’ve stopped. He was just a split second too late.

The goal seemed to restore Ottawa’s confidence level as they played a much better third controlling most of the action and limiting the Devils’ chances. Defense returned to both sides. Shots were 7-6 New Jersey.

Though they were headed for an opening game defeat, the pesky Devs never gave up getting Parise’s playoff-leading seventh from Gomez at the doorstep with 29.5 ticks left.

It would be too little, too late as Ottawa ran out the clock to pickup the ‘W.’

A few quick observations:

1.There’s no way these two teams will be as sloppy in their end on Saturday. There were more turnovers than you see in a bakery. Don’t expect it to continue. Figure both teams to get back to their normally tight checking in all three zones. Look for another one-goal game but something like 2-1 or 3-2 when they take the ice at 8 PM.

2.Brodeur and Emery were not on their respective games. Sure, they both had their moments where each made big saves. But both were shaky in the odd first two periods. Emery was just a little better in making 26 saves while Brodeur only allowed four goals in a period for the second time in his illustrious playoff career. He turned aside 21 of 26. Both should be better.

3.The Devils were without captain Patrik Elias (illness). So they can at least take solace knowing they could get back in a game without their emotional leader. Getting the solid playoff performer back Saturday should definitely be a boost.

4.It was a rough night for ’shutdown pairs.’ The NJ combination of Martin and Richard Matvichuk combined to finish minus-five while Ottawa’s tandem of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov were on the ice each for three goals against finishing minus-six.

5.Hitting was part of the Sens’ gameplan and worked effectively as some physical play led to their first goal thanks to a nice takeout from their captain. They outhit their opponents 21-12. Figure the physicality to pickup from both sides.

6.On a night most of his teammates struggled, Colin White was a warrior on the blueline in his first game back from injury. He made some outstanding defensive plays even saving a goal in the second to keep his team afloat. He also was physical and blocked a team high three shots and finished plus-one. He was solid.

Our three stars:

3rd star- Travis Zajac (1st career playoff goal)

2nd star- Dany Heatley (goal, two assists)

1st star- Jason Spezza (goal, assist)

Meanwhile at Joe Louis Arena, the Sharks got two first period goals 24 seconds apart from rookie defenseman Matt Carle and third line grinder Mike Grier to shutout the top seeded Red Wings 2-0 to take Game 1.

Carle would tally on a beautiful feed from behind the net from Joe Thornton, converting the saucer pass at the left side of the net to finish off a power play goal at 9:45. Before the Wings and their surprised supporters could blink, they found themselves down two when Grier’s turnaround slapper in the high slot surprised Dominik Hasek at 10:09.

The play was made possible from the former Sabres’ hardworking linemates in rookie Patrick Rismiller and another ex-Sabre Curtis Brown. The gritty tandem outworked the Wings on the next shift along the wall to keep the puck alive where it found Grier, who wisely turned and fired with a defenseman on him and got the desired result.

These three have had solid chemistry all postseason. They’re all relentless forecheckers who bring speed and energy. It’s why the Sharks have a pretty good chance to win this series and go much farther this Spring.

While they did their part, Evgeni Nabokov did his by turning into a human brick wall by denying the Wings at every opportunity. The Russian netminder was busy in making 34 saves for the shutout including 23 the final 40 when Detroit raised their level and outshot San Jose by 14 (23-9).

He was particularly sharp in close on angles and gave the Wings nothing as far as any kind of juicy rebounds. It helped reverse a trend which saw himself and his team struggle to win in Motown.

While Nabokov was very good, his penalty killers were even better in killing off all three Detroit power plays in a busy second. Considering there were only four penalties called all game with San Jose converting with Nick Lidstrom in the box, it was crucial for Ron Wilson’s club to execute on the PK and shutdown Detroit.

In particular shutdown defensemen Kyle McLaren and Scott Hannan were dominant blocking a ton of shots by getting in the path of shooting lanes. The duo combined to block eight. The team overall finished with 18 blocked shots. It was the biggest difference between themselves and their opponents as Detroit only registered one block coming from savvy 45 year-old vet Chris Chelios. You think the Wings need to be a little hungrier next game?

Though San Jose didn’t have much of an attack the final two periods, Nabokov and their team D was enough to get the job done in this one to snatch home ice away.

Afterwards their coach expressed that his club and Detroit could play much better. We definitely concur. Expect the intensity to be sky high on Saturday at the Joe!

Some quick hits:

1.Thornton has come to play in this postseason. Questioned earlier in his career, Jumbo Joe is playing inspired and dominating shifts. He’s over a point-a-game in these playoffs and has great chemistry with Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek. If Cheechoo gets untracked, watch out!

2.The Wings were 0-for-3 on the PP partially because they were without the services of Tomas Holmstrom. This ultimate grinder is a huge difference maker. He’s the best forward in terms of going to the net and deflecting pucks home or distracting the opposing goalie. Hopefully, his eye will be healthy enough for the rugged Swede to go in Game 2.

3.Hasek wasn’t bad by any stretch in this one but the Grier goal was a backbreaker. It surprised him and took the wind out of his team’s sails. The Dominator who stopped just 17 of 19 will need to bounceback with a big game Saturday.

4.San Jose’s offense and shot output breakdown:

2 goals on 10 shots in the first 20.

0 goals on only 9 shots in the last 40.

It’s what had Wilson concerned. They can’t expect to win this series with that type of output. It might’ve worked once but don’t expect it to again. They know that.

5.As Versus’ guest studio analyst Carolina Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette referred to, Detroit was guilty of way too many turnovers. In fact, they had 27 as compared to just five from their smarter opponents. That must change pretty quickly.
Our three stars:

3rd star- Kyle McLaren (five blocked shots in team high 24:05 TOI)

2nd star- Mike Grier (goal)
1st star- Evgeni Nabokov (34 saves, SHO)

The playoffs continue Friday night with Game 2 between the Rangers and Sabres at HSBC Arena while the Ducks host the Canucks at The Pond out West. Both higher seeds lead their respective series 1-0.