Pens' Stay Unbeaten On Road; Go To 3-0 On Trip With 4-1 Defeat of Senators

The Carolina Hurricanes can't be too happy.

Not because they've been sitting at home stewing over their last game, a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Because their next game probably won't give them a good chance to bounce back and avoid back-to-back lossess.

The Pittsburgh Penguins take their road show to Carolina next and, after a 4-1 defeat of the Ottawa Senators last night at Scotiabank Place, will be looking to not only run their road record to 5-0 in that contest, but finish off their 4-game road trip with a complete sweep.

The Penguins got their share of breaks against the Senators last night to be sure. Ottawa missed the net on several opportunities, hit a few posts, had a potential 3-on-1 rush thwarted by an offside call thanks to a broken stick on the ice, and even had a goal against go in off one of their own players.

But the Stanley Cup Champions are nothing if but opportunistic, and they didn't look back in making the Senators pay for their missed chances before the night was over.

Ottawa took a 1-0 lead on a goal my forward Milan Michalek -- acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the trade for LW Dany Heatley -- late in the first period. Michalek took a pass from Jonathan Cheechoo, also acquired in that deal, and made a nice move to finish off a 2-on-1 and deposit the puck behind sprawling Pens' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury.

Little did they know that, of the 31 shots they'd have on the night, that was the only puck they would put past #29.

As the Penguins have had a habit of doing on this road trip, they responded to an opponent's goal quickly. RW Bill Guerin did it this time, picking up a rebound of his own shot off the back boards and the net and beating his man to the puck before rifling it past confused Senators' goalie Pascal Leclaire.

Tyler Kennedy -- who has done some of his best career work against Ottawa -- got the Penguins' next 2 tallies, his 3rd and 4th of the year, in the 2nd period. The first was a puck that caromed in off an Ottawa defenseman just across the goal line. The second was a sweet slapper from the top of the right circle that beat Leclaire just above the right pad to the far side.

Jordan Staal finished off the Senators with his third goal of the season -- and third in 3 games -- by capitalizing on an Ottawa giveaway and depositing a rebound of a Mike Rupp shot that Leclaire couldn't control.

The Penguins still pace the NHL with 10 points, and are tied with the New York Rangers with an identical 5-1 mark.

Will it be finer to be in Carolina tomorrow night?

Maybe not for the home team.

More later this week.