Senators shut down Penguins, take Game 1 with 2-1 OT victory in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins had home ice as overwhelming favorites in their Eastern Conference finals opener Saturday, but the Ottawa Senators owned Game 1, a 2-1 overtime victory for Guy Boucher's underdogs.

Evgeni Malkin lit up PPG Paints Arena with a goal that knotted the contest at 1 with less than six minutes to go in regulation, but Bobby Ryan silenced the Pittsburgh roars with a well timed shot of his own in OT, lacing a beauty past Marc-Andre Fleury to secure a 1-0 series lead for the Sens in the 25th overtime game of this postseason.

Favorites or not, the Pens were shut down, failing to capitalize on five power-play shots and falling victim to Ottawa's blue-line dominance. Malkin's clutch score ensured things weren't quite as dreary as Pittsburgh's Game 6 loss to the Washington Capitals in their second-round series, but Boucher, Erik Karlsson and Co. clearly had the upper hand to kick off the Eastern finals.

Ottawa has won its past three meetings against Pittsburgh. So any notion that the Senators' defensively geared talent is no match for the high-flying offense of the Penguins is, well, a skewed one.

Maybe the Pens' immediate turnaround from a long slog of a series against the Caps took a toll on the defending Stanley Cup champions, because the energy dropoff from the second-round matchup to Saturday's faceoff with Ottawa was evident. Even the Pens' near-minute-long shot at 5-on-3 action didn't produce anything early in the showdown, so all eyes will be on their intensity -- or lack thereof -- when Game 2 arrives.