 The Penguins opened the playoffs against the 7th-seed Ottawa Senators, in the Eastern Conference quarter-final. In the opening game on April 9 in Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena, the Penguins defeated the Senators 4 – 0. In the game, Evgeni Malkin scored his first career playoff goal, Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his first career playoff shutout, Petr Sykora added a goal and Gary Roberts scored twice. In Game 2, the Penguins took a lead of 3 – 0 following a goal from Sergei Gonchar and two from Sykora. The Senators came back to tie the game in the third period, before Ryan Malone scored twice to give the Penguins their second victory in the series. The Pens scored four unanswered goals from Maxime Talbot, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Marian Hossa to defeat the Senators 4 – 1 in Game 3, the first game in Ottawa's Scotiabank Place. Two days later, the Penguins managed to eliminate the Senators in four games, the only team to do so in the first round. The team got goals from Malkin, Crosby and the series-winner from Jarkko Ruutu in the second period to defeat the Senators, 3 – 1. The Penguins were the first team to advance from the opening round. The series win was the team's first since the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs, and the first sweep of a playoff series in 16 years.
