Penguins Give Game 1 To Senators, 5-4

I'm generally not one for anger when it comes to the local hockey club.

Frustration? Maybe.

Disappointment sometimes? Sure.

But I'm here today with a whole host of bitterness after the Pittsburgh Penguins just handed game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series to the Ottawa Senators last night at Mellon Arena and fell in defeat, 5-4.

It goes beyond anger, really.

It's pure venom.

I've been following this team and the National Hockey League for 26+ seasons and I can't recall ever seeing a team open up the post-season with so little intensity from the drop of the puck in game 1.

Oh sure, things started well enough for the Penguins with Evgeni Malkin's power play goal at the 3 minute mark of the first, when he beat Senators' rookie netminder Brian Elliot on a slapper coming off the near boards.

At that point, Elliott -- starting his first ever NHL playoff game -- was nervous. When asked after the game what he was thinking after Malkin's early marker, you could almost hear the quivering he must have been experiencing at the time:

"Just stay calm, I said to myself."

But did the Penguins shellack him like they should have? Not even close.

After that, someone forgot to tell the Penguins they weren't playing against the defensive juggernaut Montreal Canadiens from the 70's, because that's certainly how Pittsburgh made their canadien counterparts in Ottawa look the rest of the period, not getting another shot for 16 minutes and looking wholeheartedly uninterested in the process.

And that's being charitable.

In the interim, rookie Peter Regin scored for Ottawa at nearly the 9-minute mark, taking advantage of Pens' defenseman Sergei Gonchar staying with him but not tying up his stick and punching home a rebound of a Jason Spezza shot past Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, and Chris Neil followed that up with a short-side, top corner wrist shot from 20 feet out at the bottom of the right circle about 5 minutes later.

Fleury's gotta have that second one.

Then, Ottawa got a break early in the second period when a power play dump-in by defenseman Chris Campoli took a strange carom off the dasher glass and popped right out in front where Sens' forward Chris Kelly easily deposited the biscuit into the net Fleury vacated when he went behind the cage in anticipation of playing the puck.

At 3-1 Senators, things weren't looking good, but Malkin restored some equilibrium for Pittsburgh when he added another power play tally at the 10-minute mark, but 4 minutes later, the Senators' power play struck again when defenseman Eric Karlsson came in from the right point and deposited a rebound passed a sprawling Fleury to make it, 4-2.

Pittsburgh had to wonder whether things might start going their way when Craig Adams -- who hasn't scored in 111 regular season games dating back to December of 2008 -- broke down the right wing one-on-one before lifting a beautiful backhander top corner past Elliott to make it 4-3 with 15 minutes left in the 3rd.

But as they had all game, the Penguins stumbled again, when former Pen Jarkko Ruutu finished off a 3-on-2 by taking a cross-ice pass and somehow tossing a wrist shot on goal that eluded Fleury for a 5-3 lead.

Another one Fleury has to stop.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski made things interesting when he scored with about 3 minutes left in the game to make it, 5-4, but the Penguins couldn't get the equalizer.

And with that, Ottawa stole home-ice advantage from the Pens and put them in an early hole in the series.

A self-inflicted one, at that. And that's the biggest problem for Pittsburgh following game 1, in my opinion.

If Ottawa deserved to win, I would say so. But the fact of the matter is that the Penguins made them look a whole hell of a lot better than they really are. The Sens didn't play that impressive of a game. They put up only 26 shots and Fleury was awful in the Penguins' goal. At the other end, the Sens' netminder, Brian Elliot, was waiting to be had in this one. He was shaky from the get-go and Pittsburgh failed to test him, putting up only 21 shots of their own.

That figure is 12 off Pittsburgh's season-average and the fact that the Pens beat Elliott on 4 of those tells you all you need to know.

Detroit or Washington would have rang up a dozen on Elliott and the Senators last night.

Unfortunately, they probably would have deposited the same number past Fleury.

Worse, while I think the Senators are an improved team this year both in their own zone and in the neutral zone -- and did an okay job on Pittsburgh defensively last night -- it wasn't like playing the New Jersey Devils out there. I mean, no team in the playoffs has given up more goals than the Senators.

It just seemed to me that the Penguins felt almost no urgency. That's inexcuseable to me.

Were there some good things for Pittsburgh in the game? Yes. Crosby had 3 assists; Malkin was dominant; The power play put forth a good performance. Max Talbot had a strong game and looked like he was back at home again in the playoffs.

Beyond that? Not so much.

Pittsburgh didn't get enough shots, wasn't nearly focused enough (as I have already mentioned ad nauseum), and didn't get strong play from their depth players.

Needles to say, the Penguins better step up their game 3-fold for Friday because they don't want to go down 2-0 in a series again. I won't say it's a must-win for them, but while Pittsburgh overcame those deficits twice in last year's post-season, that's not going to happen every time.

Besides that, those two deficits last season were earned by dropping the first two on the road ... not at home.

Another reason why the Pens need to up their play is because they have to assume Ottawa will.

The Senators didn't play their best game either. While their 3rd line was a force, one of their best players -- Daniel Alfredsson -- was a non-factor, and they took several needless penalties.

(For those who blog for the Senators, by the way, those calls were legit. You can't interfere with players or take your hand off your stick to hold someone).

We'll see what adjustments, if any, Blysma makes with his team for game 2.

In the meantime, it's a bitter Thursday.

More tomorrow.


NOTES:

Surprisingly, LW Chris Kunitz was able to suit up and go for the Pens last night. Early in the day, it didn't look like he was going to play, but he did, and was a forechecking demon as usual. Forward Mike Rupp watched from the press-box to get Kunitz back in the lineup.