The Penguins completed their sweep of the Ottawa Senators by doing what they have done throughout the post season. They peppered Martin Gerber with shots, got production for unlikely sources and Marc Andre Fleury made the huge saves when he had too. Sure they did get a couple goals from Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, but I didn't expect Jarkko Ruutu to get on the board!

It was an exciting game, but the Penguins were just a little too much for the Senators. Even when they Senators seemed to bring their absolute best effort, the Penguins were able to turn it aside.

The score for the series was a very lopsided 16-5, setting a defensive record for the Penguins. Their previous best was 6 goals allowed against the Oakland Seals back in 1968. The sweep was the 5th in franchise history.

This Penguin team is a completely different animal than the group that was ousted in 5 games by these same Ottawa Senators. Ray Shero did a great job in addressing all of the Penguins needs from one year ago. He got them a big physical defenseman, more mobility on the blue line and a couple of world class scoring wingers to play with his talented young centers. All of those components played a huge role in winning the series for the Penguins.

The week long lay off before the start of round two is a little bit of a nuisance, but it will be a great benefit for Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone. Though Malone was able to play through his injuries, he was far from 100%.

The possibilities for round two's opponent are wide open. If the Penguins continue to play the way they did in this series and get the kind of goaltending Marc Andre Fleury is capable of providing, it really won't matter who they are matched up against.

The Penguins seem to have it all right now, great goaltending, scoring from their superstars, scoring from their depth, and steady team defense. This entire group has bought into the system and are moving their feet on every shift.

I am sure that the Penguins will not seem to dominate statistically the rest of the way in these playoffs, but after seeing what they achieved in this series, these Birds may be flying right through June.

What more can we say...Pens sweep their way into round two in dominant fashion.

More tomorrow...

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