Los Angeles: The Ottawa Senators exploded for four first period goals en route to a 5-1 rout of the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in game three of their NHL play-off series on Wednesday.
The Senators tossed away their defensive persona as they chased starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the net early then breezed to a one-sided victory which earned them a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Ottawa usually win games by one or two goals but they came into Wednesday’s contest knowing they had to create more offence after failing to register a shot on goal for almost 19 minutes in a game two loss on Monday.
Mike Hoffman, Marc Methot, Derick Brassard, Zack Smith and Kyle Turris scored for the Senators.
Sidney Crosby replied for the Penguins, who trailed 5-0 after two periods.
The Senators chased Fleury with four goals on nine shots in the first 13 minutes of the game. Fleury was replaced by Matt Murray, who made 19 saves.
Craig Anderson made 25 stops in the Senators’ net. He lost his bid for a shutout when Crosby deflected a Phil Kessel shot though his legs just over six minutes into the third.
