Getty ImagesNo. 1 Star: James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins

As part of their 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 4, Neal scored twice, including a power play tally, and assisted on an another as the Penguins took a 3-1 series lead. The goal were Neal's first since Game 4 against the New York Islanders.

No. 2 Star: Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh Penguins

Iginla netted a pair, including one of Pittsburgh's two power play goals. He's now put up points in eight of the Penguins' 10 playoff games.

No. 3 Star: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Letang had a couple of bad turnovers, but did finish with four assists. He now leads all defenseman in scoring with 13 points.

There was a lot for Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean to be frustrated with after their Game 4 loss. The first period ended with the Senators ahead 2-1, but in the third the Pittsburgh Penguins offense erupted for four goals en route to a 7-3 win.

[Related: Senators coach Paul MacLean takes light approach with young team]

After the game, there would be no questions for MacLean from the media. He apparently didn't feel the need to add to the story that the gamesheet told:

If only he had dropped the mic before he walked off...

As Matt Kassian told our own Nick Cotsonika, MacLean knows just how to get through to his players, whether it's slipping in a joke during meetings to lighten the mood or, well, holding 13 second press conferences with the stern look of a drill sergeant.

It's worked up to this point. Will it for Game 5?

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesGame 4 began looking like it was going to be another one of those games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You know those games by now, right? Sloppy play. Turnovers. Questions about their goaltending.

It started off just 2:29 into the game when Milan Michalek's shorthanded goal had Scotiabank Place buzzing. Later, after Kyle Turris pounced on a puck during a scramble in front of Tomas Vokoun's crease to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead -- and the Senators killed both power plays they handed the Penguins -- things were looking promising after one period. Craig Anderson was playing like he did in Game 3, making 15 saves in the first period to deny a flying Pittsburgh offense.

"We had to make sure we played the right way," said Kris Letang to NBC Sports Network's Brian Engblom about the Penguins' adjustments between periods. "We were a little on our heels ... We had to regroup."

[Related: Senators' Daniel Alfredsson all but throws in the towel]

Regroup they did, and in a matter of 40 seconds the game flipped on its head.

APIt doesn’t happen often in professional sports, so when a team comes back from a 0-3 deficit in a playoff series, it’s cause for much celebration. There will be plenty of celebrating in Wilkes-Barre as the AHL's Penguins achieved the feat over the Providence Bruins Wednesday night.

After a scoreless opening period, the Penguins dominated the second scoring four times and taking the wind out of the Bruins' sails. Providence was unable to solve Brad Thiessen as the Penguins goaltender recorded 34 saves for his second shutout in three games during the 5-0 Game 7 victory.

The Penguins became only the third team in AHL history to advance after being down 0-3 in a Calder Cup playoff series. The 1960 Rochester Americans and 1989 Adirondack Red Wings now have company. As does the Boston Bruins organization, who now have had teams blow 3-0 series leads at the NHL and AHL level, as Tim Rosenthal pointed out. (Wayne Whittaker also brings up the fact that poor Trent Whitfield was on the Bruins team that gave up a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.)

Games 1 and 2 were dominated by the Bruins, with 8-5 and 4-2 victories. They took Game 3 in overtime 2-1, but beginning with Game 4, it was Brad Thiessen time. The Penguins netminder took control and slowed the Bruins’ offense over the next three games making 31, 30 and 46 saves, respectively, forcing a seventh and deciding game, even after getting jumped by Graham Mink in Game 5 during a brawl.

Thiessen's shutout in Game 7 improved his already ridiculous stats. He leads all goaltenders with a 0.89 goals against average and a .970 save-percentage; he's also stopped 196 of 202 shots he's faced in seven starts. So, yeah, Thiessen's in some sort of zone right now.

The Penguins will now face the Syracuse Crunch in the Eastern Conference Final beginning Saturday night.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

Think Geek• Via Wayne B., here's how you take finger hockey to the next level. [Think Geek]

• If Patrick Roy is set to become the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, according to his brother, no deal is currently in place, writes Adrian Dater. [Denver Post]

• Joe Haggerty on why the Boston Bruins and Matt Bartkowski are happy that Jarome Iginla deal never worked out. [CSNNE]

• Why John Tortorella's words always have a deeper meaning behind them. "Remember the "shut yer yap" command to then-Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock when Tortorella's Lightning faced Philadelphia in the 2004 Eastern Conference final en route to that franchise's only Stanley Cup? The story around the NHL is that Tortorella walked into that news conference knowing he would say something of that ilk, regardless of the questioning." [Bergen Record]

• San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan hinted that he may opt to use seven defensemen in Game 4 Tuesday night. Jason Demers would sub in for an injured Martin Havlat. [Mercury News]

• Roy MacGregor on what Craig Anderson brings to the Senators. [The Globe & Mail]

• Darryl Sutter on why the LA Kings flew back home between Games 3 and 4: "Just our own practice facility. You know, what are we going to do up there for two days? Really? You know what, if we had all stayed up there for two days, we’d have been bored last night and today, right? Because you’re basically just sitting around the hotel and there’s nothing to do." [LA Kings Insider]

Getty ImagesThe people of Oklahoma are still looking for survivors in the wake of Monday's mile-wide F4 tornado that ravaged parts of the state, leaving 24 people dead and over 200 injured.

Among the safe include members of the Edmonton Oilers' AHL club, the Oklahoma City Barons. The Barons practice facility is in Moore, where the damage destroyed two elementary schools and left a 20 mile-wide area of destruction. Most of the players, according to general manager Bill Scott, don't live near the area that was hit the hardest and the Barons' offices are downtown.

One player, however, who was nearest to those affected was Alex Plante, a defenseman who's been living with a family in Moore since suffering a broken jaw last month.

From Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun:

“I’d come downtown for a dentist appointment and the family I was staying with in Moore, who adopted three Downs Syndrome kids, managed to get the kids out of their school before the lockdowns.

“I told them to drive to our arena. That’s where we’re told to go. The underground parking garage at the Cox Convention Centre has a storm shelter.

...

"Our team has been fortunate that until now we’ve never had to experience a tornado. When you get here, you hear a lot about the one on May 3, 1999 in Moore. That was the big one. But they say this is three times that size.

“I haven’t seen anything yet,” Plante said of the devastation. “I don’t want to. Your heart just goes out to everybody.”

When Plante spoke with Jones, he and the family hadn't been able to get back to their house to see if there was any damage.

The Barons are currently waiting to see who they will play in the Western Conference Final, where they will host Games 3 and 4 tentatively scheduled for May 29 and 31.

If you'd like to help the people of Oklahoma, there are a number of places to go, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesNo. 1 Star: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings

For the second straight game, Howard was able to withstand the Chicago Blackhawks' attack, though he was a little busier in Game 3. Making 39 saves, Howard backstopped the Red Wings to a 3-1 victory to take a 2-1 series lead. One of his biggest saves was early in the third period when Patrick Sharp came in on a breakaway:

No. 2 Star: Drew Miller, Detroit Red Wings

Miller was part of the 1-2 punch Detroit gave Chicago in the second period as his goal put the Red Wings up 2-0 and came 31 second after Gustav Nyquist opened the scoring. Miller was also credited with four blocked shots.

No. 3 Star: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

Datsyuk's goal gave Detroit a 3-1 lead and came two minutes after Patrick Kane cut the lead to one and a minute after Andrew Shaw's goal was waived off.

Detroit has won nine straight games in which Datsyuk has scored a goal.

Getty ImagesThe frustration for the Chicago Blackhawks continues.

First, it was the referees. Now, it's the play of the Detroit Red Wings, who took a 2-1 series lead with a 3-1 victory Monday night. Just take a look at the penalties called in the third period -- all five on Chicago. Detroit did their part, killing off four Blackhawks power plays and putting the game out of reach in the second period.

The Red Wings took the game by the neck midway through the second period and never let go. Gustav Nyquist and Drew Miller scored 31 seconds apart to give Detroit a 2-0 lead. Nyquist's goal was a thing of beauty:

In the third period, the Blackhawks woke up after a questionable hit from behind by Niklas Hjalmarsson left Johan Franzen down on the ice, and Patrick Kane scored on the ensuing rush. Just over a minute later, Andrew Shaw's goal was waived off for goaltender interference and the momentum swung back in the Red Wings' favor for good.

Jimmy Howard (39 saves) was again solid and the Red Wings continued to receive contributions from their depth, a reason why teams succeed this time of year.

While the Blackhawks will need to quickly move past Game 3, the Red Wings -- halfway to the Western Conference Final -- know there's still work to be done and their next two wins will be the toughest to come by.

"We won tonight, but we've got to be back at it on Thursday," Patrick Eaves told NBCSN's Pierre McGuire afterward.

"Let's be honest, we haven't done anything yet," said Mike Babcock.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy