from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

So, how can the Penguins transfer what they did Wednesday against the Washington Capitals — their best performance of the playoffs and featuring perhaps their best third period of the season — to Game 1 Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena?

Captain Sidney Crosby felt the Penguins were so effective in Game 7 against Washington because they attacked.

Some of that involved coach Mike Sullivan’s tweaks at practice the day before, exhorting his defensemen to be more aggressive and for the team as a whole to get back to playing more of a speed game. But the players were the ones who put it into practice.

“We were on our toes. We moved our feet,” Crosby said. “The situation is important, too; in a big game like that, you’re playing that way, you’re not sitting back. I thought that was something we were able to find in that game, another level of desperation that we were probably missing a couple games prior. We need to keep that.”

Skating blindly, however, won’t do the Penguins any good against Ottawa because of its 1-3-1 system, which has leveled the playing field.

The Senators (212-214) were the only NHL playoff team with a negative goal differential. Their Corsi For Percentage (CF%) of 48.6 was 15th. Ottawa loves to let opposing teams make mistakes. Then, the Senators pounce, usually with defenseman Erik Karlsson, who is among the best at his position.

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