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News Headlines
- James Neal's hat trick lifts Penguins to Eastern Conference finals
- Legendary goalie Patrick Roy returns to Avalanche as coach
- Stayin' Alive: Rangers travel to Beantown for series' game five
- Several celebrities spotted enjoying NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
- Jimmy Howard shuts out Blackhawks as Red Wings take 3-1 lead
- Defenseman Andy Sutton retires after 15 NHL seasons
- Canucks fire Vigneault, assistant coaches for early playoff exits
- Penguins bury Senators to take 3-1 lead
- Sharks defends early lead to tie series with Kings
- Daniel Paille scores game-winner as Bruins take 3-0 lead
- Jimmy Howard tallies 39 saves as Red Wings down Blackhawks in Game 3
- Colin Greening scores in 2nd OT as Senators take Game 3
- Bruins bury Rangers to take 2-0 series lead
- Logan Couture sparks Sharks past Kings in Game 3
- Henrik Zetterberg leads Red Wings over Blackhawks
- Sid Crosby nets hat trick as Penguins grab 2-0 series lead over Sens
- Kings' late back-to-back goals stun Sharks, take 2-0 lead
- Caps' coach Adam Oates says he could 'beat up' Rangers' John Tortorella
- Brad Marchand OT goal powers Bruins past Rangers in Game 1
- Yankee Stadium to hosts NHL games in 2014
James Neal's hat trick lifts Penguins to Eastern Conference finals
Sat, 25 May 2013 06:18:12 +0000
Philadelphia, PA, United States (4E Sports) - James Neal recorded a hat trick as the Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators Friday at Consol Energy Arena.
It marked the first time Pittsburgh has clinched at home since they eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers at Mellon Arena in its 2009 run to the Stanley Cup trophy.
The Penguins will play the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal between the fourth-seeded Boston Bruins and the sixth-seeded New York Rangers. Boston leads that best-of-7 series 3-1 with Game 5 Saturday in Boston.
Brenden Morrow, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin all scored while Tomas Vokoun recorded 29 saves for the Penguins.
"He's been solid," Penguins star Sidney Crosby said of Vokoun. "Hopefully we made it a little bit easier on him, but he definitely made some big saves, especially when we need them."
The Penguins have scored four goals in nine of 11 playoff games. They have 47 goals this postseason, 12 more than the Bruins, 12 more than the Bruins, who sit second on the team goal-scoring list.
"I think we played with a lot of speed pretty consistently," said Crosby. "I don't think we had too many lulls in our game. I think we might have had a couple shifts when they got momentum, but I don't think we allowed them to get too much too often."
Craig Anderson, who carried the Senators to a five-game upset of the second-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round, looked human as he stopped just 27 of 33 shots. He allowed 20 goals to the Penguins and was pulled twice.
Morrow scored Pittsburgh's first goal 6:25 into the game, deflecting a Mark Eaton pass past Anderson. The pass hit both his stick and his skate before going in and was reviewed before being ruled a goal.
It was the fourth time this series Pittsburgh scored first and the third time that goal came in less than seven minutes. The Penguins have a league-best 16 first-period goals this postseason.
Neal scored his fourth goal of the series at 7:38 of the second period before Letang made it 3-0 five minutes later.
After Milan Michalek scored his third goal of the series with 3:42 remaining in the period, Malkin made an insurance tally three minutes later to make it a 4-1 game.
Neal added an unassisted goal 11:07 into the third period when he pick-pocketed Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson and beat Anderson in the middle of the third period.
Neal completed the hat trick when his long rush up the ice culminated in a wrister past Anderson with 2:39 remaining.
