by Daniel Reinard

Created on: April 18, 2008

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won their 1st round best-of-seven series against the Ottawa Senators 4 wins to no defeats. This series victory was bitter sweet for Pittsburgh because they were able to defeat the team that eliminated them from the playoffs a year earlier. The Penguins can now rest and wait to find out who their next opponent will be. The only team the Penguins know that they can't face next is the top seeded Montreal Canadiens. So after an impressive start to the playoffs what will the Penguins do for an encore?

Pittsburgh has extremely talented team that learned through last year's playoff exit that toughness is just as important as skill in the playoffs. Superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are playing tough to impose their will against opponents that find it difficult to contain the talented duo. Players like Jarkko Ruutu and Jordan Staal have provided a physical presence that the team lacked a year ago. Marian Hossa, Petr Sykora, and Ryan Malone are scoring goals that take the pressure off Crosby and Malkin. Top defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik have solidified the blue line. Marc-Andre Fleury has been excellent in net since returning from an injury that gave back-up Ty Conklin an opportunity to steal the starting job. Conklin played superb but Fleury played better to earn the starting job for the playoffs.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are no longer a finesse team solely relying on scoring goals to win games. After blowing a three goal lead in Game Two versus Ottawa they allowed only two goals against for the remainder of the series. This team has made a commitment to playing solid defense. Their defense now triggers the transition game into offense.

The prediction is that the Pittsburgh Penguins will face the New York Rangers in the Conference Semifinals. This will be long tough series. The winning team will have to earn every victory. The New York Rangers will win this series 4-2. The determining factor will be Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist who will be superb and steal this series. Pittsburgh's season will end at the same time as a year ago and they will have to wait another year to drink from Lord Stanley's Cup.

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