Last night was another dominating performance by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens fired 54 shots on goal which is a franchise record for a playoff game. If it wasn't for Senators Goalie Martin Gerber the game might have been over in the first period. The scoring got started late in the third by Pens defensman Sergei Gonchar (1) from Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. It was a 5 on 3 power play goal. At the end of the first period, the Pens had 20 shots on the board!!! The second period came and the shooting gallery continued. Roughly five minutes into the period the Pens got another power play marker this time from Petr Sykora (2) assisted by Evgeni Malkin and 
Sidney Cosby giving the Pens the 2-0 advantage. Petr Sykora wasn't done yet. Five minutes after Sykora scored Brooks Orpik came out of the penalty box and received a pass from Evgeni Malkin which sprung him on a brake away. Gerber made a great save on Brooks, but he didn't freeze the puck. The Sens turned and looked to clear the zone, but miss played the puck and Ryan Malone passed the puck to Evgeni Malkin who found Petr Sykora (3) open for a one timer and the Pens were on top 3-0. The Mellon arena was ecstatic and I think the Pens got caught up in the excitement a little too much because less than a minute later ex-Penguin Sean Donovan (1) scored assisted by Chris Neil and Mike Commodore. Although the Pens were out playing the Sens, the game was close thanks to Martin Gerber. I knew going into the game that it would not be as easy as it was on Wednesday for the Pens. Sure enough, there was no quit in the Ottawa Senators. Late in the second period Tyler Kennedey took a hooking penalty and the Senators capitalized. The goal came from Cory Stillman (1) assisted by Dany Heatly and Andrej Meszaros. The second period ended with a score 3-2 in favor of the Pens, but the Pens were out shooting Ottawa 40-19!!! The Pens fired more shots in the first two periods of game two than they did in three period in game one! The third period began and the Pens kept on putting shots on goal, but Gerber had the answer. Penguins forward Marian Hossa had a beautiful chance to put the game away, but good not tap the puck in to the open goal. Soon after Hossa's missed opportunity the Sens Cody Bass scored his first career post season goal assisted by Randy Robitaille and Mike Commodore. The Sens started looking like the team that had fired 40 shots in the first two periods. The third period was winding down and it was looking like overtime was a legit possibility until Penguins' forward Jarko Ruutu was high sticked in the face by Senators forward Martin Lapointe. Penguins' coach Michel Therien called a timeout to draw up a play. The timeout ended and the Pens put their power play unit to work. With 1:02 remaining on the clock Ryan Malone brought the Mellon Arena to its feet when he scored his first post season goal on the power play to give the Pens the 4-3 lead. The goal was assisted by Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa. The Ottawa Senators pulled Martin Gerber to get the extra attacker and Ryan Malone scored his second goal of the game assisted by Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa again. It was an empty net which put the Pens up 5-3 in the game and 2-0 in the series.
The only thing that really bothered me last night was the Pens defense not clearing bodies from the front of the net. On every goal the Senators scored there were players whacking at Fleury's pads trying to knock the puck through into the goal. The Pens have had this problem all year. This is the reason they brought in defensman Hal Gill who has been stellar since he has arrived. If the Pens are to close out this series and move on to the second round, they need to be more physical in front of their own net. The Pens proved they could do this in game one against the Senators on Wednesday. Other than the defense needing to be more physical I have no problems with their play. Also if the Pens are able amount 54 shots a game, I don't see them having any issues through out this post season. Off to Ottawa for game 3. Lets Go Pens!!!
Three Stars:- Petr Sykora- 2 goals
- Evgeni Malkin- 3 assists
- Ryan Malone- 2 goals, 1 assist
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