The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings have served notice they won’t go quietly, nor passively accept their roles as sacrificial lambs for the heavily favored Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. Each underdog got badly needed wins over the weekend, as TheSportsNotebook reviews all four second-round series…
PITTSBURGH-OTTAWA
Pittsburgh had come out smoking in Game 2 and looked ready to put the series away. Playing on their home ice, the Penguins outshot the Senators 42-22, with an 18-7 margin in the first period alone. It was the elite players—Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla taking a good chunk of the shots, and Crosby lit it up with two first period goals and then completed an early hat trick in the second period. When Pittsburgh hung on for the 4-3 win, there was little reason to think Ottawa could turn it around.
NHL Analysis: Detroit Pushes Chicago To The Brink
Four teams are on the brink of moving into the conference finals of the NHL playoffs and to the surprise of everyone, one of them is not the Chicago Blackhawks. The Western Conference’s top seed, and co-favorite with Pittsburgh for the Stanley Cup, has been pushed to the brink of elimination by the Detroit Red Wings. It’s there that we’ll begin our review of all four second-round matchups.
DETROIT-CHICAGO