Chris Ferraro recaps Penguins-Senators First-Round Playoff Series

2010 NHL Playoffs First-Round Series Recap

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 2 Ottawa Senators

The Penguins’ depth and consistency was the difference in this series.  If one player or a few players weren’t at their best, others took over and picked up the slack.  With contributions from Kunitz, Cooke, and Dupuis as prime examples.  There was a lot of emotion and aggression in these games which made for a very entertaining, fast, aggressive, and fun series.  Orpik was very physical on defense and made it challenging for Ottawa’s forwards to utilize their skills effectively.   Gonchar, Letang, and Eaton played solid and efficient to both offensively and defensively to round out the defense as a whole.  Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was hot and cold in this series showing signs of greatness and signs of concerns especially with rebound control.   Captain Sidney Crosby displayed why he is the top player in the world as he was effective through most of these games in all areas of play.  Malkin was also very good and is a very important part of the team’s success.  Coach Dan Bylsma did a strong job keeping his team intact as Ottawa gave the Pens some things to think about and adjust as the games went on.  Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their first-round win.

Ottawa played aggressive, physical, smart, and they to have depth with contributions from their third and fourth liners in this series.  The defense played very gritty with Sutton and Volchenkov leading the way.  Goaltending was a concern in the series as rookie goalie Brian Elliot was average and replaced in Game 5, watching from the bench behind veteran Pascal Leclaire.  Spezza and Alfredson were constant threats offensively but played with a physical edge to show how determined they were to beat the defending Stanley Cup Champs and put their season to an end.  Matt Cullen was very effective along with youngster Peter Regin.  “Big” Chris Neil was also a force for the Sens scoring a few huge goals for his club in this series and Fisher played hard and feisty as he usually does.  Ottawa proved how well-balanced their team was and matched up well with the Penguins.  Coach Cory Clouston did an extremely good job preparing his team defensively for a very lethal offensive team that is looking to repeat.  The Sens should be proud as they played well enough to take the series and gave the Penguins a scare.  Great job Ottawa.