The Associated Press

OTTAWA - Roman Cechmanek stopped 33 shots for his second career playoff shutout and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 Sunday night to even their second-round series.

Cechmanek made up for his dismal performance in Friday's series opener by posting his first shutout in these playoffs. Simon Gagne and Mark Recchi scored for the Flyers, who tied the second-round series 1-1.

Game 3 is Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Gagne scored early in the first period and Recchi added another late in the game against Patrick Lalime, who made with 21 saves.

The Senators, who had an NHL-best 113 points this season, have never won the second game after opening a series with a victory.

The Senators went 0-for-6 on the power play; the Flyers were 0-for-3.

It was the third sellout in five home games for the Senators this postseason. Before this year, Ottawa failed to sell out only one of 20 home playoff games.

Gagne dampened the enthusiasm of the towel-waving crowd when he scored his fourth goal of the playoffs at 6:57 of the first.

One of the criticisms of Cechmanek after Game 1 was that he struggled when he was forced to move side-to-side across his crease. It was Lalime who was beaten when Gagne sneaked out from behind the Senators net and fired a low shot off the far post on the Flyers' second shot.

Lalime allowed goals on Philadelphia's first two shots in Game 1.

Wild 3, Canucks 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Sergei Zholtok and Wes Walz scored just over a minute apart early in the third period as the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Sunday night to even their second-round series.

Marian Gaborik added a goal and an assist, and Pascal Dupuis had two assists for the Wild, who return home for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Friday. Vancouver won the opener 4-3 in overtime last Friday.

After the Canucks staged a furious flurry in the closing seconds, for the second straight game, tempers flared after the buzzer and several fights broke out near the benches. Five players were given misconducts, including a game misconduct handed out to Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell. He had been sent off for roughing seven seconds earlier and came back out onto the ice.

The Canucks, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period in Game 1, pulled goalie Dan Cloutier with two minutes left. They got within a goal when Mattias Ohlund scored at 18:28.

Trent Klatt almost tied it on a scramble with 54.7 seconds left, but Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell closed his hand on the puck in the crease. The infraction went undetected, and a video review showed that the puck never crossed the line.

Ed Jovanovski also scored for the Canucks, who lost for the first time in five games.

Zholtok broke a 1-1 tie at 1:02 of the third, just seconds after a Vancouver penalty for too many men on the ice expired. He cut down the middle untouched and one-timed Andrew Brunette's pass from behind the net past Cloutier.

Walz, who scored twice in the third period of Game 1, made it 3-1 just 1:03 later. He fought off Markus Naslund's soft check and tapped in Gaborik's cross-ice feed on the other side of a sprawling Cloutier.

Dwayne Roloson, out since Game 4 of the first round because of a groin injury, replaced Manny Fernandez in the Wild net and made 30 saves.

Fernandez had better playoff numbers after backstopping the final three first-round wins over Colorado, but Roloson was 2-0-1 against Vancouver this season and 6-2-2 in his career.

Roloson was especially sharp in the first, stopping Matt Cooke on a partial breakaway, and robbing Markus Naslund and Artem Chubarov from close range in the last five minutes of the period.

Cloutier made just 15 saves.

Gaborik opened the scoring on Minnesota's first shot of the second period the Canucks had a couple of good chances to clear the puck. Dupuis got the puck along the boards and fed Gaborik in the left circle for a one-timer that beat Cloutier high on the glove side.

Jovanovski's fourth goal of the playoffs tied it with 2:42 left in the second period after Trevor Linden spotted him trailing unchecked on a three-on-two rush. Jovanovski walked in alone and beat Roloson low on the stick side.

Both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

SENATORS

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is confident the sale of the bankrupt franchise will be completed soon. Toronto businessman Eugene Melnyk submitted a formal offer to purchase, and the NHL has an agreement with the Biovail founder.

At a glance

CONFERENCE SEMIS

(Best-of-7 series)

EASTERN

Ottawa vs.

Philadelphia

(Series tied 1-1)

Game 1: Otta. won 4-2

Sunday: Phila. won 2-0

Tuesday: at Phila., 7 p.m.

New Jersey vs.

Tampa Bay

(Devils lead 2-0)

Game 1: N.J. won 3-0

Game 2: N.J. 3-2 (OT)

Today: at T.B. 7 p.m.

WESTERN

Dallas vs. Anaheim

(Ducks lead 2-0)

Game1: Ana., 4-3 (5OT)

Game 2: Ana., 3-2 (OT)

Today: at Ana. 10 p.m.

Vancouver vs.

Minnesota

(Canucks lead 1-0)

Game 1: Van., 4-3 (OT)

Sunday: at Vanouver, n

Tuesday: at Minn. 8 p.m.