Erik Karlsson outshines Henrik Lundqvist as Senators snatch Game 1
OTTAWA — Erik Karlsson was hoping for a good bounce and got a great one.
Karlsson’s shot from an almost impossible angle beat Henrik Lundqvist with less than five minutes to go in regulation and snatched Game 1 for the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
The 26-year-old’s first attempt was blocked by Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, but the second — the shot leaving his tape from below the goal-line — somehow found its way past the Swedish netminder, who’d been nearly unbeatable to that point.
It was the last of 43 shots at Lundqvist and the first goal of the playoffs for the Ottawa captain.