Sportsfrog.com

Both the Ottawa Senators and the San Jose Sharks each came in to their Thursday night games off a long layoff and used strong first period efforts to build early leads on their way to take game one of their playoff series.

The Senators went up 4-0 early and finished the first period leading 4-1. But after they let the Devils come back to with one goal of tying the game up, Wade Redden’s goal 43 seconds into the third period proved to be the game-winner for Ottawa, who are now up 1-0 in the series.

San Jose, meanwhile, built up a quick first period lead of their own by scoring two goals 24 seconds apart. Those goals helped take the paltry Detroit crowd out of the game and led the way to their 1-0 series lead.

The Sharks defense was spectacular for most of the game, allowing Nabakov a number of relatively easy saves from the perimeter. They blocked 18 shots on the night and forced 27 Detroit giveaways. Detroit came alive with a few good scoring chances in the third, but could not put anything in the net.

For Friday, the Sabres will look to go up 2-0 at home against the Rangers while the Ducks hope to do the same against the short-handed Canucks.