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Crosby puts Penguins up 2-0

 
From left, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and
Chris Kunitz celebrate Crosby’s third goal.
From left, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz celebrate Crosby’s third goal.
Published May 18, 2013

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby's second playoff hat trick lifted the Penguins to a 4-3 win over the Senators and a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal Friday.

Brenden Morrow added his first playoff goal since 2008 for Pittsburgh, which has won four straight overall.

"I don't think we need to get caught up in the fact that we won two here," Crosby said.

"They're going to be pretty desperate, so we better be ready to go in Ottawa."

Crosby — whose other hat trick came May 4, 2009, in Game 2 of the East semifinals against the Capitals, a 4-3 loss — beat Craig Anderson three times in the game's first 22 minutes, sending the goalie to the bench.

"He's one of the best in the game, and if you give him time and space to make plays … he's going to burn you," Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips said. "That's what we did."

Sharks seek rebound after stunning loss

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A dizzying 22 seconds turned a series on the brink of being 1-1 into an 0-2 hole for the Sharks. They say it didn't take much longer than that to put a Game 2 collapse against the Kings late Thursday behind them.

"We could have been hanging our heads and moping around," defenseman Brad Stuart said a day after the 4-3 loss in the West semifinal. "But I don't sense that at all."

The Sharks led 3-2 but were down a man when defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty with 2:41 left in the game. The Kings scored on the five-on-three, Dustin Brown stuffing in a rebound, and five-on-four, Trevor Lewis on a rebound, to go up with 1:21 left.

"We weren't as sharp as we wanted to be," Kings center Anze Kopitar said. "We realize we've got to play better."

Adams finalists: Anaheim's Bruce Boudreau, Ottawa's Paul MacLean and Chicago's Joel Quenneville are finalists for the coach of the year award.

Syracuse advances: The Lightning's AHL affiliate beat Springfield 5-2 to cap a four-game sweep and reach the East final. The Crunch, whose opponent hasn't been determined, also swept its best-of-five first-round series vs. Portland.

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First Period1, Pittsburgh, Crosby 4 (Martin, Niskanen), 3:16. 2, Ottawa, Turris 4 (Alfredsson, Gonchar), 13:15 (pp). 3, Pittsburgh, Crosby 5 (Kunitz, Letang), 16:07. PenaltiesTurris, Ott (holding), 6:21; Methot, Ott (roughing), 10:19; Malkin, Pit (hooking), 13:03.

Second Period4, Pittsburgh, Crosby 6 (Letang, Malkin), 1:15 (pp). 5, Ottawa, Greening 2 (Z.Smith, Neil), 1:55. 6, Pittsburgh, Morrow 1 (Neal, Martin), 8:04. PenaltiesKarlsson, Ott (hooking), :49; Neil, Ott (cross-checking), 3:26; Letang, Pit (roughing), 3:26; Latendresse, Ott (boarding), 5:56; Neil, Ott (slashing), 8:22.

Third Period7, Ottawa, Pageau 4 (Latendresse, Condra), 2:01. PenaltiesOrpik, Pit (boarding), 3:13; Conacher, Ott (high-sticking), 14:49. Shots on GoalOttawa 7-9-6—22. Pittsburgh 18-15-9—42. Power-play opportunitiesOttawa 1 of 2; Pittsburgh 1 of 6. GoaliesOttawa, Anderson (21 shots-18 saves), Lehner 0-1-0 (1:15 second, 21-20). Pittsburgh, Vokoun 4-0-0 (22-19).