OTTAWA -- Matt Murray made 21 saves in total, but none bigger, better or more important than a highlight reel stop in the 13th minute of the first period at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night.

The two-time Stanley Cup winning goalie dove from one side of his crease to the other, snuffing out Mike Hoffman's shot at the open net and propelling the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators in a rematch of last spring's Eastern Conference finalists.

"If they score on that maybe they get some momentum and it's a different outcome," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "That was a huge save for us. We were able to settle in and generate some chances ourselves."

Those opportunities translated into late second-period goals by Patric Hornqvist and Jake Guentzel, both off deflections. Jean-Gabriel Pageau pulled the Senators to within one at 10:29 of the third, but Riley Sheehan took a pass from Crosby to seal the victory with an empty netter in the last minute.

"I played the guy a little too aggressively on the right side there," Murray said of Mark Stone, who made the cross slot pass to Hoffman on the play of the game. "I knew Hoffman was over there waiting for a one-timer. I just tried to kind of barrel roll over there and get whatever I could in front of the puck."

Murray managed to get the palm of his blocker hand on the shot, right at the goal line. The play went to video review to confirm it was no goal.

It was the decision Murray expected.

"I was pretty sure," Murray said. "As a goalie you have a pretty good idea of where your net is and where goal line is and stuff like that, so I was pretty sure it stayed out. If it's close you definitely know as a goalie. That's your office there. You know every inch of it. I was pretty confident."

Hoffman shrugged off the heist.

"Things like that are going to happen," he said of the Murray stop. "There's good goalies in this league that make saves like that. All I'm trying to do there is hit the net with the puck in the air. I did those things. He just made a good save. Some of the times you just have to tip your hat."

The result put a halt to a four-game road losing streak for the Penguins (11-7-3).

"We wanted to build off of last game and keep that momentum," Crosby said. "It was nice to get a road win. They are not a team that gives you a whole lot, so you have to play a pretty patient game."

Craig Anderson stopped 26 shots for the Senators (8-4-5) but had little chance on the Penguins goals, both of which were off point shots through a crowd.

The Guentzel goal was a backbreaker as it came off a slapper by Brian Dumoulin with nine seconds left in the second period.

"He takes a one timer on a rolling puck and it was like a knuckle puck out there, it just found its way," Anderson said. "It's just one of those things where we learn from it. We've got to be mentally sharp for the whole period."

Anderson expected to be in a goalie duel with Murray, much like was the case in Game 7 of the conference final won by the Penguins in double overtime.

"He's always played well against us," Anderson said. "You know he brings his best, so you've got to bring your best. As athletes and competitors we thrive on that. We want guys to bring their best and force us to play better."

The game was the first in five days for the Senators, who beat the Colorado Avalanche twice in Sweden last week. Coach Guy Boucher wasn't sure how his players would respond to the layoff and their still re-adjusting body clocks.

"If I had to bet, I would have guessed the opposite, I thought we'd have troubles getting started, and pick it up after," Boucher said. "We were great to start, we had a terrific first period. I think the story of the first period is that their goalie stoned us. We faded away in the second period."

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan thought his team put forth a solid effort.

"I thought we did a good job of managing the puck," Sullivan said. "Ottawa is a good team. They have a lot of skill and a great counterattack game. I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting that for most of the night."

NOTES: Senators D Chris Wideman was used as a fourth line winger for the second game in a row. Wideman was injured late in the game but no update was available. ... The Penguins scratched D Frank Corrado and RW Josh Archibald ... Senators F Nick Paul was scratched. .... Ottawa's next game is Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre against the Arizona Coyotes. ... The Penguins return home for Saturday's meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that beat them 10-1 in their second game of the season.