Penguins (2) vs. Senators (7) Playoff Preview

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There's nothing like renewing acquaintances in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh and Ottawa butted heads last season in the first round, but that was a different ballgame, a 4-versus-5 matchup where the then-powerful Senators held home-ice advantage and romped all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.

That doesn't seem likely this time around, and public sentiment certainly isn't on Ottawa's side.

Let's face it, this season has been a disaster for the Senators. Favoured to win the conference heading into the year, they kicked things off with a red-hot 15-2-0 start, but have played at just an 80-point pace since then, sinking all the way down between rebuilding Philadelphia and Boston as one of the final playoff seeds.

Ottawa may be the league's highest-scoring team, but no one's picking them to win this series against Crosby and Co.Offense: If pressed, the average hockey fan would probably pick the Penguins as hockey's top offensive juggernaut, but it was actually the Senators that led the category this season, netting 18 more goals than Pittsburgh over 82 games. The majority of those, however, were scored during the good times, and in good health, and neither of those scenarios apply now. Captain Daniel Alfredsson's status is still up in the air heading in, and as one of two 40-goal men on Ottawa, he's integral to any chance they'll have in this series. The Penguins, meanwhile, have all hands on deck, and a two-pronged attack involving Sid Crosby and Evgeni Malkin could prove deadly against a team that's had issues keeping the puck out of its net. Edge: Pittsburgh

Defense: It's not a well-worn bit of info, but the Penguins actually finished the season as one of the NHL's top defensive clubs, allowing 2.55 goals per game to finish 10th overall and better than all but the Rangers and Devils in the conference. A lot of that improvement has come from the blueline, and specifically veteran Sergei Gonchar, who has emerged as a capable defensive defenceman in addition to his obvious skills with the puck. Picking up Hal Gill at the trade deadline has also given the club some much-needed muscle on the back end, although this is still a group with a lot of (a) inexperience and (b) Brooks Orpik. Ottawa, meanwhile, has been woeful in its own zone since Christmas, with Wade Redden looking disinterested on the eve of becoming a free agent and Mike Commodore failing to add anything of value since his trade from Carolina. The Senators only reliable pairing has been Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov, two shutdown specialists who could excel in getting the bulk of the work against Crosby, Malkin and friends. Edge: Even

Goaltending: Again, what a difference a year makes. This one's not even close this time around, as both the Penguins' goaltenders have save percentages above .920, while the Senators are stuck choosing between the crazy, coach-killing (not literally) guy who got it done last time around (Ray Emery, .890) and the 33-year-old netminder with one career postseason win (Martin Gerber, .910). Marc-Andre Fleury is going to be questioned by a lot of people heading into this one, but he's gotten it done this season despite missing considerable time due to injury. (Besides, there's always Ty Conklin.) Edge: Pittsburgh

Special Teams: The Penguins are downright deadly here, with the league's fourth-best power play and 77 goals scored there on the year. Ottawa finished 12th, but won't be nearly that effective without Krusty. Neither team can kill penalties worth a hoot, but Pittsburgh stays out of the box a heckuva lot more and Crosby's a master at drawing calls. Edge: Pittsburgh

Prediction: Penguins in six. If any team's going to collapse in the first round, it'll be Ottawa, who have been downright terrible for months despite all their firepower.It's going to take a lot to turn that ship around.