Penguins/Senators Game 5

Looks like Leclaire gets the start for the Sens. The come down on the 1st shift and Fleury is throwing elbows as a Senators player gets caught up in the crease.

Ruutu in the box early for the Senators for roughing. Killing penalties early on in an elmination game is not how the head coach for Ottawa wants to start.

Penguins don't do anything of consequence on the power play and we are 0-0 heading to the 1st TV timeout.

Ottawa showing a little fight. At exactly the 10:00 mark they get their 1st power play of the game.


It took all of 25 seconds but there was a pinball shot off a bunch of skates that finds the back of the net. PPG puts Ottawa up 1-0. Mike Fisher given early credit for the tally.


Strong forecheck and bounces all over the place again. Ruutu gets redemption and buries one after Foligno does the dirty work. 2-0 Sens. Timeout Pittsburgh.

Lots of fight in this Ottawa squad but 20 minutes does not make them victorious. All kinds of hitting and chippy stuff. They are treading water but haven't been saved yet.


Chris Phillips off for a cross-check and it takes all of 14 seconds before Chris Letang pops the water bottle and cuts the Ottawa lead in half. 2-1 Senators late in the 1st.

Phillips is in the box again. Pittsburgh will have 1:49 remaining on the power play with a fresh sheet to start the 2nd.

Penguins come up empty at the beginning of the period and now Ottawa gets a chance with a man advantage. Score remains 2-1 Ottawa.

Pretty uneventful 2nd period thus far. Some back and forth hockey but nothing really sustained for either team. Ottawa will take that. They are still up 2-1.

Leclaire is giving his team a chance to win and so are the refs. Kunitz bangs one through after the whistle sounds. Still 2-1 Sens. Hold the phones. Actually, pick it up. Toronto would like to talk to the zebra squad.

Upon further review...we have a good goal and a tie game with less than 2 minutes to go in the second.

Point shot by Gonchar on the power play hits a Penguins stick (Kunitz?) above the bar and goes in. Review confirms it and we have no goal. Score remains 2-2 about 5 minutes into the third.


Sid the Kid bangs one home off a Malkin rebound shot to put the Pens up 3-2 and one step closer to sending Ottawa packing.


They aren't dead yet. Peter Regin blasts one by Fleury who had no chance to make a stop on a shot he couldn't see. 3-3 with a little less than 10 minutes to go.

And Ottawa gets to have their season last a little longer. We are headed to OT at the Igloo.

Early on, the Flower makes 2 huge stops. Shortly thereafter we have a goal under review on what looks to be a puck kicked into the net. Toronto is all over this and they get the call right. We play on!

Some big stops so far for both goalies in extra time. Ottawa gets a power play with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the 1st OT. A short 4-on4 and the Pittsburgh gets a crack at it with a power play.

Teams exchanging power plays here. In the 90's you had to kill a guy to get any kind of call in OT. The times they are a' changing.

Blocked shots and big stops for the Pens on the PK and OT continues.

There was a little 4-on-4 just before the period ends but noone scores. The Zams are out getting the ice ready for some double OT.

Puck is down for the 2nd OT. Hockey players are animals!

More than halfway through the 2nd OT and we are still at it. Shots are 52-37 in favor of the Pens. Leclaire has made some great saves to keep the season alive.

3rd overtime coming up. Mr Miyagi (The Penguins) cannot catch the fly (The Senators) with the chopsticks. Shots after 100 minutes of hockey, 55-40 Pens.

The start of the 3rd OT has more pace than I expected. Both teams going hard trying to win it.


4-3 win in triple OT for the Sens. Carkner or Cullen should get credit for the goal. We're going back to Kanata.

Pens/Sens Game 4

Expecting some old-time playoff hockey here. Ottawa has their fingers crossed that the Flower plays like he did in Game 1. That's about the only shot the Senators have because Crosby has been pretty much unstoppable.

And old time hockey is what we have to start. These guys are trying to kill each other. Fleury and Crosby just mixed with the Seantors in a big goal mouth scrum.

Pens go on the power play after all of that and Elliot robs Crosby early on. As of right now Elliot is under siege. Several high quality chances for the Pens. Ottawa has to tighten up......quickly.

The Penguins are flying (yeah I know, Penguins can't fly). Forces Ottawa to take a hooking penalty and Geno makes 'em pay. 1-0, Champs.

Sid the Kid off for a slash. Ottawa has gets a few good chances but nothing across the goal line.

2nd period gets underway and the Penguins bury 2 quick ones (12 seconds apart to be exact) to increase the lead to 3. It goes without saying.....time out Senators.

Time out really doesn't help as the unstoppable one scores from the off-wing. Elliot gets yanked for Leclaire and the Senators respond by sliding one under Fleury during a goalmouth scramble. Wow, talk about a momentum killer. Neil scores the goal but takes a penalty during the celebration. Calm down son! Your team is trying to get back in this.

Little more than halfway through the game and the Sens have taken another nibble out of the Penguins lead. Alfredsson buries one to make it 4-2. They are waving the towels and getting loud in Kanata, ON.

Matt Cullen uses Brooks Orpik to remove a pane of plexi-glass. Senators are on the power play with just under 8 minutes to go in the 2nd. The power play doesn't matter. Adams with a great backhand pass that Max Talbot redirects with one hand and makes it 5-2 with a shorty. Senators now have a 38 second 5 on 3 and make things happen quickly. It's now 5-3 Penguins and the Sens still have a man advantage.

The Senators cannot stop the bleeding. It's now 6-3 with the Pens going up a man again. Wonder if this will get ugly as far as the rough stuff goes of the Pens kick the extra point.

8 minutes into the 3rd and the Sens have a bit of a last gasp. Lenghty 5-on-3. Spezza feezes Staal and cuts the lead to 6-4 and Ottawa is still one man to the better.

Jordan Staal adds the extra point for the Penguins. 7-4. Ouch.

And we of course had a big dustup in this game with the score out of hand and the Sens extremely frustrated.

The defending champs run roughshot over the Senators. They take a 3-1 series lead back to the 'Burgh for a possible clincher on Thursday night.