Penguins 4, Senators 1: Evgeni Malkin continued his sizzling postseason by collecting a goal and an assist in the first period as host Pittsburgh benefited from strong special teams play to win Game 1 of its Eastern Conference second-round series.
Chris Kunitz and defenseman Paul Martin each recorded a power-play goal and Pascal Dupuis scored while his team was short-handed for his NHL-leading sixth tally. Tomas Vokoun won his third straight postseason contest after turning aside 35 shots for the top-seeded Penguins, who host seventh-seeded Ottawa in Game 2 on Friday.
With the score tied at 1-1, James Neal forced a turnover by Senators defenseman Jared Cowen behind the net before dishing the puck to Kunitz. Stationed in the left faceoff circle, Kunitz wired a cross-slot feed to Malkin, and the reigning Hart Trophy winner recorded his league-leading 13th point of the postseason by redirecting the puck past Craig Anderson (26 saves) with 7:45 remaining in the first period.
After drawing a holding penalty on rookie Cory Conacher, Kunitz provided insurance with 1:27 left in the second. Norris Trophy finalist Kris Letang's slap pass connected with Jarome Iginla, who was denied by the right pad of Anderson. Kunitz buried the rebound to give the Penguins 3-1 advantage.
Dupuis capped the scoring at 11:24 of the third period with Neal serving a holding penalty. Dupuis skated in on a 2-on-1 rush with Matt Cooke before snapping a shot over the right shoulder of Anderson.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play after going 7-for-21 with the man advantage in its first-round series versus the New York Islanders. ... Martin's blast from the point deflected off Cowen before sailing past Anderson at 2:41 of the first period. The Senators answered 2:10 later as C Colin Greening alertly tapped home a loose puck in the crease following RW Erik Condra's backhanded shot from behind the goal line. ... Iginla and Malkin have notched at least one point in all seven games of the postseason. Iginla has eight assists, leaving him one shy of his career high - set over the course of 26 games with Calgary during the 2004 playoffs. ... Ottawa D Eric Gryba suffered an upper-body injury during the second period and did not return to the contest.
Ottawa | Pittsburgh | |
Colin Greening 1 | Points | Chris Kunitz 2 |
Colin Greening 1 | Goals | Chris Kunitz 1 |
Erik Condra 1 | Assists | Chris Kunitz 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Chris Kunitz 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Pascal Dupuis 1 |
Craig Anderson .867 | Save Percentage | Tomas Vokoun .972 |
Craig Anderson 26 | Saves | Tomas Vokoun 35 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Ottawa | 36 | 1 | 0-5 | 2-4 | 36 | 31 |
Pittsburgh | 30 | 4 | 2-4 | 5-5 | 18 | 26 |