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Senators breeze

Ottawa's Christoph Schubert is caught between Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and defenseman Brooks Orpik. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Ottawa's Christoph Schubert is caught between Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and defenseman Brooks Orpik. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Andrej Meszaros and Chris Kelly scored 5:01 apart early in the first period and the Ottawa Senators ruined Sidney Crosby’s playoff debut with a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night in Ottawa in the opening game of the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Tom Preissing made it 3-0 with a power-play goal after Ottawa scored twice on Marc-Andre Fleury in the opening period, when the Senators had a 16-4 shots advantage.

The 19-year-old Crosby, who led the NHL with 120 points, scored the game’s final goal at 19:11 for his first playoff point. He also had a goal waved off 37 seconds into the third after Dany Heatley put Ottawa up 4-1 with a power-play goal 28 seconds earlier.

Sharks 5, Predators 4 (2OT): At Nashville, Tenn., Patrick Rissmiller scored at 11:46 of the second overtime, and San Jose beat Nashville after blowing a two-goal lead in the opening game of the Western Conference first-round series.

Rissmiller, who scored only seven goals in the regular season, beat Tomas Vokoun with a shot from the edge of the left circle after taking a crisp pass from Patrick Marleau.

Ducks 2, Wild 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Dustin Penner scored with 5:20 remaining to lift Anaheim to a victory over Minnesota in the opening game of their first-round playoff series.

Penner poked the puck in after Minnesota defenseman Kim Johnsson crashed into Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, sending him sprawling backward into the net.

The puck was sitting in the crease, and Corey Perry swept it toward the goal. Penner took a couple of swipes at it and forced it in.

Teemu Selanne tied it for Anaheim with a second-period goal, just 3:51 after Pavol Demitra scored for the Wild.

Stars at Canucks, late: At press time, Dallas’ Western Conference first-round playoff opener at Vancouver was tied at 4 after three overtimes.

Coyotes clean house

The Phoenix Coyotes cleaned out their front office, firing general manager Mike Barnett and two other executives after the franchise’s worst season since it moved from Winnipeg in 1996.

Wayne Gretzky, who owns a share of the team and is its managing partner, will return for a third season as coach next fall.

Also dismissed were director of hockey operations Cliff Fletcher and assistant general manager Laurence Gilman.

Around the league

Defenseman Chris Phillips agreed to a new contract with the Ottawa Senators that is worth $15 million over four years and includes a no-trade clause. … The Detroit Red Wings expect to have Henrik Zetterberg (inflamed disk) in and Todd Bertuzzi (concussion) out of the lineup for tonight’s Game 1 of their first-round series against Calgary. … Goaltender Rick DiPietro, recovering from two concussions, did not travel with the New York Islanders to Buffalo and will miss the playoff opener against the Sabres. … Warren Strelow, a pioneering goaltending coach and assistant for the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, died in San Jose, Calif. He was 73.