The Pittsburgh Penguins are on to the Eastern Conference final, and they appear to have found their stride in this second round.
The Penguins knocked off the Ottawa Senators by a final score of 6-2 on Friday night, closing out the Eastern Conference semifinal in five games.
Here are some talking points.
- The Penguins advance to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2009, when they won the Stanley Cup. Just saying.
- Is this the final National Hockey League game for Daniel Alfredsson? The Senators’ captain is 40 years of age and a pending unrestricted free agent this summer.
- If this is Alfredsson’s last game, let’s have a look at the numbers: regular season games played (1,178); goals (426); assists (682); points (1,108). Impressive.
- Adding salt to the wound, James Neal scored the hat trick goal to put Pittsburgh up 6-2 in the third period. And it was a beauty, with the toe-drag around Erik Karlsson. He now has five goals in his last two games.
- The Penguins, in the final two games of this series, scored 13 times.
- In 2009, when the Penguins won the Cup, they did not win a single series on home ice. In 2013, in the second round, they put an end to the Senators’ season at home.
- Former teammates with the Florida Panthers, Tomas Vokoun outplayed Craig Anderson between the pipes in this series.
- Who is next? The New York Rangers or Boston Bruins? It’s looking like the Bruins.
- Canada’s lone remaining NHL team is out. Who do Canadians cheer for now?