“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.

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.