Martin Gerber tries to hide from the Penguins...
[EDIT] - Click here for Dunman's Tales of the Tapes - Playoff Edition against Ottawa.
The Pittsburgh Penguins jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the series against the rival Ottawa Senators in a 4-0 win Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
This is the sort of game that brings no complaints. Everything that could've been done right was and everything that could've been done wrong wasn't even touched upon.
Pittsburgh started the scoring just one minute into the game on a Gary Roberts chip-shot in front of the net. The second goal was by far the prettiest one on the night, as Evgeni Malkin dished a one-timer to Petr Sykora who beat Martin Gerber glove-side.
The second period showed no scoring from either side, but in the third Pittsburgh tagged two more from Malkin and Roberts to seal the deal and pave the way to victory.
The tempers were nothing short of playoff hockey in the third, as gloves dropped and bodies fell in a few end of the game matches. Ryan Whitney pounded Wade Redden onto the ice like he was Riley Cote. Seconds later Gary Roberts started a fight with the world and received 16-minutes worth of penalties, including a game misconduct, and skated off to the cheers of another sold-out Mellon Arena crowd. Even on his way to the dressing room Roberts was picking a fight with Ottawa's Schubert.
Expect teeth to fly on Friday night for game two.
Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing in net. He wasn't challenged all that often but when he was Fleury was never short of spectacular. Pittsburgh's penalty kill really sealed the deal for the Penguins, holding Ottawa 0-5 with the man advantage and 0-2 on the 5-on-3.
If the Penguins keep playing hockey like this, it's not far-fetched to think it'll be a quick four game series. Will Ottawa's captain Daniel Alfreddson shrug off a tumultuous injury to try and rescue his team from elimination? Will Ray Emery come back to save the day for a city that has ridiculed him all season long?
We'll find out soon enough.
Game two, Friday at 7pm.
Coming soon: a collection of reactions in the world of Ottawa bloggers.