The Pittsburgh Penguins became the first team to advance in this year’s NHL Playoffs. Jarkko Ruutu got the game-winner and Sidney Crosby picked up an empty-net goal to help the Pens win in Ottawa 3-1 and gave them a sweep over the Senators. Evgeni Malkin got the first goal of the game and Cory Stillman was the only player to tally for the Sens.
With the series win, Pittsburgh avenged last year’s 4-1 series loss in the first round to Ottawa. However the Senators were the lower-seeded team this time around. Their regular season free-fall carried over into the Playoffs as they were really only competitive in Game 2.
And in the other Eastern Conference game tonight, the New York Rangers pushed the Devils to the brink of elimination with a 5-3 win at MSG. The 5th-seeded Rangers are now up 3-1 against #4 seed NJ.
Scott Gomez had two goals against his former team and Patrik Elias had two for the Devils.
The series heads back to New Jersey’s Prudential Center where the NY took Games 1 and 2. The Rangers are now 10-1-1 against the Devils this season.
