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Want to experience desperation? Try putting yourself in the skates of the Ottawa Senators, coming to Mellon Arena with a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, having lost three consecutive games to the Penguins. “They’re going to be desperate,” Penguins winger Matt Cooke said. “They’re going to give everything they’ve got. I [...]

Senators star center Jason Spezza finally scored his first goal of the playoffs on a 5-on-3 power-play to cut it to 6-4 at 7:37 of the third period, but Ottawa failed to take advantage in the additional 1:28 that Matt Cooke was in the penalty box. The Penguins killed the remainder of that penalty, thanks [...]

The Senators finally found a way to stop Sidney Crosby, as Pascal Leclaire blocked his shot, but that only allowed Chris Kunitz to record his first playoff tally and give the Penguins a 6-3 lead at 18:11 of the second. Crosby received an assist, increasing his NHL-best to seven and the Stanley Cup playoffs scoring [...]

With Ottawa picking up momentum and Jordan Staal in the penalty box for hooking, Max Talbot came up big with a short-handed goal at 12:38 to give the Penguins a 5-2 cushion. They would need it. Twenty-nine seconds later, Jay McKee drew another hooking penalty and put the Penguins in a two-man disadvantage. And six [...]

In a matter of four minutes, Ottawa cut a four-goal deficit in half by rediscovering its offensive firepower. Chris Neil scored his second goal of the playoffs, poking a rebound of his own miss past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 4-1 at 7:06 of the second. Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson finally lit the lantern with [...]

Sidney Crosby tied for the Stanley Cup goal-scoring lead and increased his NHL-best points total to nine with his second tally of the game and fourth of the playoffs for a 4-0 lead at 6:12. Crosby beat goalie Brian Elliott by firing a top-shelf wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Sergei Gonchar [...]

The Penguins turned a tight game into a 3-0 advantage following a fantastic save and a pair of goals within 12 seconds by Sidney Crosby and Matt Cooke in the fourth minute of the second period. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped a backhander by Daniel Alfredsson from the lower left circle, setting up a quick [...]

Note to Senators: Don’t bring a sword to a gunfight. Ottawa went 12 minutes, 1 second between shots, a span in which the Penguins attempted a dozen shots on net and took a 1-0 lead on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal. The Senators got their first power-play opportunity when Sidney Crosby was called for slashing at [...]

Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 11:50 of the first period of Game 4, tying him with Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom and Vancouver’s Mikael Samuelsson for most in the playoffs. Malkin’s tally came seconds after Chris Kunitz replaced Bill Guerin on the power play and set up in front [...]

Ottawa has matched its third line of Chris Kelly, Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu against the Penguins’ first line of Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz — a sign that the Senators are about to stir some trouble. Already, Kelly instigated a skirmish by punching defenseman Kris Letang in the head. Kelly, Neil and [...]