Crosby Comes Up Big as Pens Edge Sens 2-1

In Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Ottawa Senators, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a lot going for them: home-ice advantage, a boatload of scoring talent and 19 Stanley Cup rings.

No surprise, then, that after Wednesday's 5-4 upset, Sidney Crosby and his boys in black came out for Game 2 looking more like birds of prey than penguins, playing fierce, no-holds-barred hockey on their way to a dramatic 2-1 win on Friday night.

The Senators didn't go down easy, however, and almost matched the Pens' intensity on the outing. It was Ottawa that opened the scoring when, 18 seconds into the game, Jason Spezza dished a no-look pass at the blue line to Peter Regin, who rocketed the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury's outstretched glove.

Series tied, 1-1
Penguins 2, Senators 1: Recap | Box Score | Series Page

The Penguins were unshaken, and eight minutes later Crosby replied with his first goal of the series, backhanding a rebound past Brian Elliott, who made 29 saves on the night.

At the end of the first period, the game turned decidedly scrappy after Ottawa defenceman Andy Sutton laid a controversial check on Pittsburgh defender Jordan Leopold, who lay sprawled out on the ice for several minutes after the play and did not return to the bench for the rest of the game. Sutton had his elbow raised on the hit, but was not assigned a penalty.

The second period saw no scoring but a lot of dancing as players kept pairing off at each whistle to exchange pleasantries. There were checks, lots of yapping, gloves in faces, lumber on shins, and a whole lot of tussling in front of Fleury, who was well guarded by the five remaining Pens blue-liners.

Heading into the third, this was anybody's game. The crowd at Mellon Arena knew it, and roared its support for Pittsburgh. With the Senators pressing hard, it was Crosby who showed once again why he is the most valuable player in the NHL. After back-checking deep in his own end, Sid was in the "right place, right time," as the superstar centre said after the game, to stop the puck just as it was about to dribble over the Pittsburgh goal line.

Minutes later, in the dying moments of the game, the Kid did it again. Pursued doggedly by Spezza behind the Ottawa goal, Crosby raced back and forth, passing Elliott four times while hunting for a scoring chance before finally falling to his knees and sliding the puck to Kris Letang at the point, who snapped it over the glove of the screened goaltender to make it 2-1.

Crosby now leads all players with five points in the 2009-10 post-season.

Ottawa leaves Steel City having forced the split, and will look to leverage home-ice advantage in Game 3 against Pittsburgh at Scotiabank Place on Sunday night.