Bobby Ryan, Senators Even Series vs. Penguins with Game 6 Win

The Ottawa Senators kept their season alive with a 2-1 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday.

Mike Hoffman's goal at the start of the third period was the difference, and Sens goalie Craig Anderson made 45 saves in the win.

Pittsburgh entered Tuesday with a 3-2 series lead and all of the momentum after a 7-0 win in Game 5, but Ottawa evened the series at three and forced a Game 7 Thursday.

The teams were tied 1-1 until Hoffman fired one home just over a minute into the third period:

Anderson took care of the rest with one of his best games of the playoffs, allowing just one goal two days after being pulled in the first period of a blowout.

Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray wasn't able to keep up his magic from Game 5, allowing two goals on 30 shot attempts. It was also his first loss in three games since re-entering the lineup for Marc-Andre Fleury.

There was plenty of action throughout the game but not a lot of scoring. Devin Heroux of CBC compared the 0-0 first-period score to the early blowout in Game 5:

Evgeni Malkin finally notched the first score of the game after many close chances, including one apparent goal that was called back because of goalie interference.

The goal was a great individual effort from the league's playoff points leader (24):

Ottawa was able to equalize later in the period, although it took a five-on-three situation to get anything going.

This Bobby Ryan goal not only tied the game 1-1, but it was the first power-play goal in 30 opportunities for the Senators, dating back to last round:

The score remained locked at one apiece until Hoffman knocked a shot past Murray early in the third period to give the home team its first lead.

Tom Gulitti of NHL.com described the response:

Pittsburgh had a few opportunities in the closing minutes, but Anderson fended off all challenges to preserve the 2-1 victory. 

The teams will contest a Game 7 in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

While anything can happen in a winner-take-all battle, the Penguins already showed they could handle that type of pressure when they beat the Washington Capitals in seven games last round. Meanwhile, the Senators are 0-5 in Game 7s throughout their franchise history, per Hockey Reference.

They will have to snap that streak on the road to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2007.