Penguins' Crosby produces four more points for 11 in series
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Sidney Crosby, center, celebrates one of his two second-period goals with teammates Chris Kunitz, left, and Bill Guerin as Ottawa's Chris Neil looks on. The Penguins scored five goals in the period en route to a 7-4 victory in Game 4 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. -
Ottawa's Mike Fisher, left, and the Penguins' Kris Letang crash off each other and the boards early Tuesday night in Ottawa. -
Chris Kunitz beats Ottawa's goalie Pascal Leclaire to put the Penguins up, 6-3, late in the second period. Chris Kelly tries to help for the Senators.
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OTTAWA -- Yes, it was a nice goal.
And it was a perfectly reasonable payoff for some quality work by Max Talbot and Craig Adams, too.
It just was not a goal that anyone expected to become the winner.
"Definitely not," Talbot said.
After all, when Talbot -- with just one hand on his stick -- steered an Adams feed behind Ottawa goalie Pascal Leclaire while the Penguins were short-handed at 12:38 of the second period, it gave them a 5-2 lead, which should be a pretty comfortable cushion at any time of year.
But the Senators refused to wilt and, with an occasional assist from the Penguins, ended up putting four pucks behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, which is how Talbot's goal came to be the winner in the Penguins' 7-4 victory Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place.
The victory gives the Penguins a 3-1 lead in this Eastern Conference opening-round series and a chance to clinch a spot in the second round by winning Game 5 at 7:08 p.m. Thursday at Mellon Arena. If the Senators survive that one, the series will shift back to Ottawa Saturday for Game 6.
• Series: Penguins, 3-1.
• Next game: Senators at Penguins in Game 5, 7 p.m. Thursday at Mellon Arena.
• TV: FSN Pittsburgh.
• The skinny: With at least one game still to play, Sidney Crosby (11 points) has already recorded the second most productive series in his postseason career.
Two of Ottawa's goals in Game 4 came during five-on-three advantages, so limiting the number of power plays they give the Senators figures to be a priority for the Penguins over the next day or so.
"We actually took a lot of dumb penalties," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "The only way they were going to get back in it was on the power play, and we put it right on a tee for them."
Penguins right winger Tyler Kennedy did not play after appearing that his right leg or knee was injured on a hit by Senators defenseman Andy Sutton at 1:50 of the second period. There was no immediate word on the nature or severity of his problem.
If Kennedy cannot dress for Game 5, Ruslan Fedotenko, a healthy scratch the past three games, likely is the leading candidate to replace him.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby was the dominant force in the game for the third time in the series, scoring two goals and setting up two others. He has been involved in 11 of the Penguins' 17 goals to date.
First Published April 21, 2010 12:00 am
