Thu Apr 17 17:05:17 2008

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Stanley Cup Notebook: Pens get revenge on Sens

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(Sports Network) - It's been said that revenge is a dish best served cold. The Pittsburgh Penguins seemed to have little use for that proverb in their opening-round series against the Ottawa Senators.

Last year, the Penguins made it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2001, but their stay wasn't long, as Ottawa won the conference quarterfinal series in five games en route to a run to the Stanley Cup finals.

However, it was a completely different story this year, as Pittsburgh rolled past the Senators with a four-game sweep in the opening round. The Penguins outscored Ottawa 16-5 in the quick series and won every game by at least two goals.

A big factor for the Penguins was how they played in the second half of the season compared to Ottawa's play down the stretch. Pittsburgh wound up with a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the Senators were handed a unceremonious end to a disappointing season that began with so much promise. Ottawa started the year with a 16-3-0 record and it looked like the team would run away with the East's top seed in the opening months of the season. The start was not at all surprising, considering the Sens' trip to the Cup finals a few months before the 2007-08 season began.

However, the Senators went just 27-28-8 the rest of the way and fired head coach John Paddock by the end of February. The firing did little to change things, as general manager Bryan Murray took over behind the bench and watched as his club went 7-9-2 thereafter.

That's why the Penguins smelled blood in the water coming into this series and put struggling Ottawa out of its misery in short order.

Pens phenom Sidney Crosby should feel a weight lifted off his shoulders now that he has his first playoff series win under his belt. The club's 20-year- old captain would've faced many questions about his postseason performance if he went winless in his first two series.

Crosby was the youngest player in league history to win a scoring title in 2006-07, scoring 120 points en route to a sweep of the NHL's MVP Awards by receiving the Art Ross Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award.

Yet, although Crosby was deemed the best individual player in the league last season, the Penguins are clearly a better team this year.

One big reason for that is the huge step forward taken by sophomore sensation Evgeni Malkin. Malkin, last year's Calder Trophy winner as the league's top rookie, nearly won a scoring title this season, but fell short to Washington's Alex Ovechkin, a fellow Russian.

Malkin played in all 82 games and finished second in the league in points (106) and fourth in goals scored (47). The 21-year-old centerman's big season was especially important this year because Crosby missed 29 games this year with a high ankle sprain.

With both Crosby and Malkin at their disposal in the playoffs, the Penguins were able to breeze past the Senators. Crosby led all players in the series with eight points (2 goals, 6 assists), while Malkin was next with two goals and five helpers.

Along with Crosby and Malkin, Pittsburgh added a huge offensive weapon at the trade deadline by acquiring sniper Marian Hossa from Atlanta.

Hossa, who had four straight seasons of 80 points or more from 2002-03 to 2006-07, has given the Pens a third prolific scoring option. The winger had one goal and four assists in the series against the Senators.

The trio of scorers has helped turned Pittsburgh's power-play into one of the most-feared units in the NHL. The Penguins scored on 6-of-23 (26-percent) opportunities with the man advantage in the opening round.

The play of goaltender Macr-Andre Fleury in recent months can't be overlooked either. Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft, went 10-2-1 in his final 13 starts of the season and was 4-0 with a 1.25 goals against average and .955 save percentage against Ottawa in the opening round.

Obviously, it takes more than four players to win in the NHL playoffs, but Pittsburgh is getting an awful lot of mileage out of Crosby, Malkin, Hossa and Fleury.

Last year, Crosby and the Pens had to watch as Ottawa made it to the Cup finals. This year, it could be the Senators' turn to watch a similar run.