Faceoff Factor

Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Ottawa Senators Series Preview

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Apr 8, 08:16 PM | Hype this story!

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Penguins (2) vs. Senators (7) Conference Quarterfinals Preview
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With allegations of tanking the final game of the season to play the Ottawa Senators, the Pittsburgh Penguins are being considered the bad guys of the series by media members and fans alike.

That’s okay in the Penguins’ eyes, as they know the goal is the same either way: they must start out by winning four games in their first series in order to ultimately win 16 games and the Stanley Cup.

While the Senators may appear to be an easy draw considering their freefall in the standings and their untimely injuries, there is enough experience on that team to make the series quite interesting.

This series has a lot of offense, with superstars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa sporting the black and gold, and Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley representing the red and black. But, the Daniel Alfredsson sidelined by injury, the Penguins likely have the slight edge, despite scoring 14 fewer goals in the regular season.

Defensively, the Senators have underachieved mightily, finishing the season ranked 24th in the NHL in goals allowed, while the Penguins quietly found themselves in the top 10 in goals against. With an injury to defensive forward Mike Fisher and the poor play of Mike Commodore since arriving from Carolina, the Penguins clearly have the edge.

The big difference between these teams is the goaltending. Ottawa has struggled to get quality performances from both goalies and, consequently, have found little consistency. The Penguins, on the other hand, have been backstopped by two of the NHL’s hottest goaltenders.

With revenge on their minds after losing in five games to the Senators a year ago, look for the Penguins to come out strong and prove their talent in a hard-fought series.

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Team Numbers
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Standings
Pittsburgh: 47-25-10; 104 pts; 1st Atlantic; 2nd Eastern; 4th NHL
Ottawa: 43-31-8; 94 pts; 2nd Northeast; 7th Eastern; 13th NHL

Records
Pittsburgh: 26-10-5 at home; 21-17-3 on the road; 1-2-1 vs. Ott; 6-3-1 in last 10
Ottawa: 22-15-4 at home; 21-16-4 on the road; 3-1-0 vs. Pit; 3-6-1 in last 10

Special Teams
Pittsburgh: PP, 20.4% (4th); PK, 81.0% (23rd)
Ottawa: PP, 18.3% (12th); PK, 81.1% (22nd)

Scoring
Pittsburgh: 247 GF (7th); 216 GA (8th)
Ottawa: 261 GF (2nd); 247 GA (24th)

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Player Leaders
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Goals
Pittsburgh: Malkin (47); Hossa (29); Sykora (28)
Ottawa: Heatley (41); Alfredsson (40); Spezza (34)

Assists
Pittsburgh: Malkin (59); Gonchar (63); Crosby (48)
Ottawa: Spezza (58); Alfredsson (49); Heatley (41)

Points
Pittsburgh: Malkin (106); Crosby (72); Hossa (66)
Ottawa: Spezza (92); Alfredsson (89); Heatley (82)

Penalty Minutes
Pittsburgh: Laraque (141); Ruutu (138); Malone (103)
Ottawa: Neil (199); Commodore (100); Fisher (82)

Wins
Pittsburgh: Fleury (19); Conklin (18); Sabourin (10)
Ottawa: Gerber (30); Emery (12); Elliot (1)
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Injuries
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Pittsburgh: Eaton, IR (Knee)
Ottawa: Alfredsson, DTD (Knee/Upper Body)

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Series Schedule
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All times are in EST.

Game 1: April 9 at 7:00 in Pit; Versus, CBC, RDS
Game 2: April 11 at 7:00 in Pit; CBC, RDS
Game 3: April 14 at 7:00 in Ott; CBC, RDS
Game 4: April 16 at 7:00 in Ott; CBC, RDS

Game 5: April 19 at TBD in Pit (if needed); Versus, CBC, RDS
Game 6: April 20 at TBD in Ott (if needed); CBC, RDS
Game 7: April 22 at TBD in Pit (if needed); CBC, RDS