“I’m not talking about anything ahead of Game 5,” the Pittsburgh captain said when asked about a potential Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins.

But after the Penguins’ 7-3 victory Wednesday night, it’s hard to imagine Crosby and his teammates aren’t starting to think about facing the Bruins, who are up 3-0 over the New York Rangers.

Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice, Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis added goals, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves. Down 2-1 after the first period, the Penguins scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes of the third.

Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched after Pittsburgh’s sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.

“There was a sense like, ‘OK, this might take as many shots as we can muster to break this guy.’ And fortunately, we kept on that mindset,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “It was a matter of, ‘We are going to have to fire anything and everything we can at this guy to get one by him.'”

Game 5 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.

“I know what we’re going to do,” Alfredsson said. “We’re going to go out and play one hell of a game. That doesn’t worry me at all. We never quit and that’s not going to stop now. We know the odds are against us in every way, but we never quit and that’s going to continue.”

But Alfredsson also conceded that the Senators faced long odds of rallying against the top-seeded Penguins.

“Probably not,” Alfredsson said, according to NHL.com. “[Pittsburgh’s] depth and our play right now … it doesn’t look too good.

“When you look at what we did, it wasn’t good enough. Does that mean [Pittsburgh] was good? Did we make them good? Who really cares? From our point of view, we didn’t manage the puck [well], we didn’t execute our passes, and subsequently, we got punished in the neutral zone. We turned way too many pucks over and gave them some freebies. It would have been nice to have the lead for a little bit longer, but now we’re back on our heels again. We didn’t shut them down when it matters.”

The 40-year-old captain was seen retrieving the puck at the end of the game, NHL.com reported, but Alfredsson insisted that the puck was a memento for his family and not a sign that he was considering retirement at season’s end.

Senators coach Paul MacLean didn’t take a single question after the game. Instead, he held up the scoresheet and said: “I think everything’s right here. It’s 7-3. See you in Pittsburgh. We’re going to Pittsburgh and we’re coming to play. Have a good night.”

The Senators, coming off a double-overtime victory Sunday night in Game 3, opened the scoring on Michalek’s short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. With defenseman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side for Ottawa’s second short-handed goal of the series.

It was the Senators’ first lead of the series. It wouldn’t last.

Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net. Turris put Ottawa back in front off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first.

Pittsburgh tied it early in the second when Kunitz got behind the defense and went in alone to beat Anderson. Less than a minute later, Anderson gave up a rebound on Kris Letang’s shot that landed on the tape of Iginla’s stick to make it 3-2.

Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Dupuis added a short-handed goal at 8:07, Crosby followed at 8:39, and Iginla scored on a power play at 9:53.

Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point.

The post Penguins score 4 goals in third period, take 3-1 series lead appeared first on IdealCapper.

Now, it’s Crosby’s turn to return the favor.

Crosby had two goals and an assist to lead Pittsburgh past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday night in the Penguins’ first game since reigning MVP Malkin was injured.

“They’re a dangerous team, so we wanted to make sure we played in their end as much as we could,” Crosby said. “They don’t need much room in order to create chances.”

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Malkin was diagnosed with a concussion after slamming back-first into the end boards during Friday night’s win over Florida.

Bylsma said Malkin, whose head snapped back when he hit the boards, initially suffered short-term memory loss, but he is improving. Still, Malkin will not join the team when it begins a three-game road swing Tuesday.

“He’s feeling fine and his memory is returning,” Bylsma said.

James Neal, Malkin’s regular linemate, played alongside Crosby and Chris Kunitz against the Lightning. Neal is tied for second in the league in goals.

Beau Bennett scored his first career goal on the power play to help Pittsburgh take over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. Matt Cooke and defenseman Paul Martin each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have won five of six to tie Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Stamkos had a three-point night for Tampa Bay, with his 13th goal and two assists. Stamkos and John Tavares of the New York Islanders are tied for the NHL lead in goals.

Cory Conacher, the NHL’s leading scorer among rookies, and defenseman Eric Brewer also scored for the Lightning, who are tied with Carolina for first place in the Southeast Division.

Stamkos, with 29 points, is one ahead of Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.

“You can’t give a team like that a three-goal lead in the first,” Stamkos said. “We made a game of it, we did a lot of positive things, but we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Marc-Andre Fleury, tied for first in the league with 10 wins, won his fifth straight game.

Anders Lindback started in goal for the Lightning and allowed three first-period goals on 10 shots before he was replaced at the start of the second by Mathieu Garon.

Tampa Bay, which outshot Pittsburgh 30-22, nearly crawled out of the 3-0 first-period hole with two goals early in the second period. The Lightning scored another in the third after the Penguins’ second-period power-play goal, cutting the deficit to 4-3, but Tampa Bay, which scored four goals in the third period during a 5-2 win one night earlier at Carolina, couldn’t complete the comeback.

“We’re the No. 1 team in the league for comebacks after two periods the last three years and we proved again why,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. “It’s just we can’t dig ourselves that big of a hole early, especially in a back-to-back.”

Crosby faced the Lightning for the first time since absorbing a check into the glass from Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman two years ago. It was a hit that contributed to the concussion problems that plagued the Penguins’ captain, forcing him to miss the final 41 games of the that regular season, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and most of last season as symptoms lingered.

Those days appear behind Crosby, who has 21 points in his last 12 games. The Penguins’ captain put his team ahead early with two goals less than 8 minutes into the game.

The first one came just 1:16 in. Crosby took a pass from Kunitz, skated alone down the left side and roofed a short-side wrist shot over Lindback’s shoulder from the faceoff dot.

Crosby’s second goal came 6 minutes later. Lindback had trouble trying to glove Martin’s shot from the point. Crosby got a stick on the puck, which bounced between Lindback’s legs and into the net after the Lightning goalie kicked it in.

Martin scored with 33 seconds left in the first period, tapping the rebound from Cooke’s initial shot into a partially empty net to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

The Lightning, after a dismal opening period, needed just 3:14 to score twice in the second.

Brewer got the first one 1:37 into the period on a tip-in from Stamkos, who followed it up by scoring the second — his fifth straight game with a goal — just 20 seconds into a two-man advantage.

Stamkos, with Pittsburgh’s Simon Despres and Craig Adams in the penalty box, wasted little time scoring on the power play, ripping a one-timer from the left side past Fleury to make it 3-2.

“They got right back into it and our three-goal lead evaporated,” Bylsma said. “I like how we stabilized the ship.”

The Penguins regained a two-goal lead, scoring on their own two-man advantage. It was the 11th straight game in which they scored a power-play goal, and the first time in five games Tampa Bay allowed a goal with the man advantage.

Kris Letang rushed to keep the puck in the zone at the blue line, sending a spinning pass to Crosby, who set up Bennett’s first NHL goal, a one-timer past Garon.

“Beau was in a good spot there,” Crosby said. “He’s a pretty gifted player, he has a lot of talent and he found the open lane.”

Conacher scored 3:15 into the third period, one-touching Hedman’s pass past Fleury to make it 4-3. But the Lightning, whose 32 third-period goals rank No. 1 in the NHL, couldn’t forge a tie despite Hedman’s near miss in the final minute.

“They’re a good team that has great offense and it’s going to bite you if you give them the puck, and that’s what happened tonight,” Boucher said.

Game notes

Crosby moved into third all-time in team history with 637 points, behind Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. … Cooke got his 200th career assist on Martin’s goal. … Both teams play again Tuesday. Tampa Bay returns home to host Buffalo, while Pittsburgh opens a three-game road trip at Florida. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Penguins’ next home game is March 4 against Tampa Bay.

The post Sidney Crosby lifts Penguins in 1st game since Evgeni Malkin injury appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Matt Cooke also scored, Sidney Crosby had three assists, and Tomas Vokoun made 21 saves against his former team for the Penguins, who have won three straight and four of five to lead the Atlantic Division.

Mike Green, John Carlson and Mike Ribeiro scored for the Capitals — and Carlson’s goal was an accident that took a weird carom off a stanchion along the glass. Two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin, who said before the game that he was somewhat embarrassed to have only three points on the season, contributed a secondary assist on a third-period power-play goal with Washington trailing by three.

Washington has lost seven of nine games to start the season. Hosting the Penguins as a Super Bowl warm-up for the third straight year, the Capitals no longer look like the formidable team that beat Pittsburgh 5-4 in overtime with a hat trick from Ovechkin in 2010 and shut out the Penguins 3-0 a year ago — both feisty games that included punches thrown by Ovechkin.

Ovechkin was overly physical in this game as well, getting a roughing call in the final two minutes.

Under new coach Adam Oates, the Capitals are feeling their way around the ice, especially on defense. Braden Holtby stopped only 20 of 26 shots, allowing Letang and Kunitz to beat him glove side 37 seconds apart in the second period to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead.

Vokoun, who shut out the New York Rangers on Thursday, made a successful return to the Verizon Center. He was signed to be the Capitals’ No. 1 goalie last season but hurt his groin and was eclipsed by Holtby during the playoffs, prompting Washington to trade him to Pittsburgh.

Martin scored from the point after Crosby won a faceoff in the Capitals’ zone to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period. Washington tied it less than two minutes later after a nice sequence in which Ribeiro won the puck along the boards and passed it to Wojtek Wolski, who then sent it along to a wide-open Green.

After Cooke made it 2-1, Carlson tied it on a bizarre goal in the second period. The Capitals defenseman was merely trying to dump the puck along the boards, but it rose up and took an odd deflection. Vokoun had already started to retreat behind the net to intercept the puck and tripped trying to change direction to get back to the crease.

Game notes

Ovechkin said before the game that the Capitals were in a “desperate moment.” He noted that he and other NHL players who spent the lockout playing in Russia should be doing better. “Right now I’m standing here, I have only three points, and, you know, it kind of embarrass me.” … The Capitals played the first of three games without D John Erskine, who was suspended for three games for elbowing Wayne Simmonds in Friday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers. … Washington had been 12-1-3 in its previous 16 regular-season meetings vs. Pittsburgh.

The post Chris Kunitz’s hat trick powers Penguins by Capitals appeared first on IdealCapper.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Ottawa Senators
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 27, 2013
Where: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario
TV: 5 p.m., ROOT, Sportsnet East, TVA
Prediction: Senators 5, Penguins 4

Oddsmakers currently have the Penguins listed as 121-moneyline favorites versus the Senators, while the game’s total is sitting at 5½.

Starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has split time with offseason signing Tomas Vokoun thus far. Both have a win and a loss, as well as a goals-against average around 3.00, but Vokoun holds the edge in save percentage with .908 to Fleury’s .882. Crosby and reigning Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin are tied for the team lead with five points, while James Neal leads the club with 22 shots and has three goals. Chris Kunitz, who has three points, leads the team with 15 hits.

Pittsburgh was a 4-2 loser in its last match on the road against the Jets. They lost as -130 favorites, while the total score of 6 made winners of OVER bettors.

Team record: 3-1-0 SU, ATS
The total has gone OVER in 5 of last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 7 of last 8 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of last 10 games at home
When playing on Sunday are 6-4
Before playing Boston are 6-4
After playing Tampa Bay are 3-7
After a loss are 4-6

Karlsson, who won the Norris Trophy last season as the league’s best defenseman, leads the team with 17 shots and is plus-6. Jason Spezza, who had a team-high 84 points last season, has four points. Captain Daniel Alfredsson has three assists so far and is 15 points away from reaching 1,100 in his career. Milan Michalek hasn’t scored since Ottawa’s season-opener but has points in all four games so far.

The Senators were a 6-4 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Lightning. That made winners of bettors who got Tampa Bay at -125 on the moneyline, while the total score (10) was good news for OVER bettors.

Team record: 2-2-0 SU, ATS
Current streak: lost 2 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of last 5 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone OVER in 7 of last 8 games when playing on the road against Ottawa
The total has gone OVER in 14 of last 17 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 17 of last 21 games
When playing on Sunday are 5-5
Before playing Ottawa are 6-4
After playing Winnipeg are 7-3
After a loss are 6-4

The post Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Ottawa Senators Free Betting Tip & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.