The Pittsburgh Penguins aren't going to go down without defending their title as Stanley Cup champs.
Sidney Crosby had a goal, an assist and even saved a goal as the Penguins scored a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night to tie the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final 1-1 as the series moves back to Ottawa for Game 3 Sunday.
"We battled really hard," said Crosby, who had three assists in Game 1. "We got rewarded at the end."
After escaping Ottawa centre Jason Spezza on a brilliant shift late in the third period, Crosby pushed the puck to the point to Kris Letang, who fired the winner by goaltender Brian Elliott with 4:12 left on the clock to give the Pens the victory.
Earlier, Crosby opened the scoring for Pittsburgh at 8:45 of the first. Then, with a shot from Anton Volchenkov heading past Marc-Andre Fleury and on the goal line with nine minutes left in the third, Crosby dove to keep the puck out.
Sid the Kid was amazing.
"We praised him for the shift at the end and getting Kris the puck for the goal," said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. "I think [Fleury] is more appreciative for the one that got behind and diving after it."
Elliott said he never saw the shot by Letang.
"Obviously it's an easy save if I can see it. I just lost sight of it," said the Ottawa goalie.
Even after a 5-4 victory in Game 1, the Senators didn't believe this series was going to be easy. Coach Cory Clouston felt the club was in good shape when Peter Regin scored on the first shot on Fleury in Game 2, but knew the Penguins would battle back.
"I thought [the early goal] would get them even more involved in the game," said Clouston. "Just because you score that early it doesn't necessarily mean anything. In fact, sometimes it's a false sense of security for the team that scores it. I don't think that was the case. I just thought they were ready."
The Senators are going to have to take the split and hope they can get some momentum on home ice.
"This shows how the series is going to go. It's going to be a long series," said Ottawa centre Jason Spezza. "We're not satisfied. We wanted to try to steal two here. You've got to look at the positives: We're going home now. We would have liked to have won."
Hard Hit
The Penguins and their fans were livid with Senators defenceman Andy Sutton, who caught Pittsburgh blue-liner Jordan Leopold with his head down and delivered a crushing blow with less than three minutes left in the first period.
Officials Bill McCreary and Ian Walsh didn't penalize Sutton on the play. That had the Penguins incensed. Coach Dan Bylsma was yelling at the officials as he left the ice after the first period and the referees were booed as they went down the hall.
Leopold didn't return to the game. He has a "head injury" and will be re-evaluated.
Sutton, who was testy with a reporter that claimed he used his elbow, said there should be no issue or suspension.
"It was just a hit like any other hit I've been doing this year," said Sutton. "I saw the guy's head down. I moved towards him and I think it was a clean hit."
Sidney Crosby had a goal, an assist and even saved a goal as the Penguins scored a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night to tie the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final 1-1 as the series moves back to Ottawa for Game 3 Sunday.
"We battled really hard," said Crosby, who had three assists in Game 1. "We got rewarded at the end."
After escaping Ottawa centre Jason Spezza on a brilliant shift late in the third period, Crosby pushed the puck to the point to Kris Letang, who fired the winner by goaltender Brian Elliott with 4:12 left on the clock to give the Pens the victory.
Earlier, Crosby opened the scoring for Pittsburgh at 8:45 of the first. Then, with a shot from Anton Volchenkov heading past Marc-Andre Fleury and on the goal line with nine minutes left in the third, Crosby dove to keep the puck out.
Sid the Kid was amazing.
"We praised him for the shift at the end and getting Kris the puck for the goal," said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. "I think [Fleury] is more appreciative for the one that got behind and diving after it."
Elliott said he never saw the shot by Letang.
"Obviously it's an easy save if I can see it. I just lost sight of it," said the Ottawa goalie.
Even after a 5-4 victory in Game 1, the Senators didn't believe this series was going to be easy. Coach Cory Clouston felt the club was in good shape when Peter Regin scored on the first shot on Fleury in Game 2, but knew the Penguins would battle back.
"I thought [the early goal] would get them even more involved in the game," said Clouston. "Just because you score that early it doesn't necessarily mean anything. In fact, sometimes it's a false sense of security for the team that scores it. I don't think that was the case. I just thought they were ready."
The Senators are going to have to take the split and hope they can get some momentum on home ice.
"This shows how the series is going to go. It's going to be a long series," said Ottawa centre Jason Spezza. "We're not satisfied. We wanted to try to steal two here. You've got to look at the positives: We're going home now. We would have liked to have won."
Hard Hit
The Penguins and their fans were livid with Senators defenceman Andy Sutton, who caught Pittsburgh blue-liner Jordan Leopold with his head down and delivered a crushing blow with less than three minutes left in the first period.
Officials Bill McCreary and Ian Walsh didn't penalize Sutton on the play. That had the Penguins incensed. Coach Dan Bylsma was yelling at the officials as he left the ice after the first period and the referees were booed as they went down the hall.
Leopold didn't return to the game. He has a "head injury" and will be re-evaluated.
Sutton, who was testy with a reporter that claimed he used his elbow, said there should be no issue or suspension.
"It was just a hit like any other hit I've been doing this year," said Sutton. "I saw the guy's head down. I moved towards him and I think it was a clean hit."
