Senators dominate Penguins in Game 3, take series lead

It wasn’t boring.

Or maybe, depending on your rooting interests, it was a different kind of boring.

The Ottawa Senators put the Pittsburgh Penguins away in the first period of Game 3, jetting out to a 4-0 lead and never looking back in a 5-1 victory, to take a 2-1 Eastern Conference Final lead on Wednesday night.

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Mike Hoffman, Mark Methot, Derek Brassard and Zach Smith scored in the first 12 minutes and 52 seconds, chasing Marc-Andre Fleury after just nine shots on goal. Matt Murray, who Fleury replaced in the first game of the postseason after he was injured in warm-ups, made 19 saves on 20 shots the rest of the way.

So, perhaps, a goalie controversy for the Penguins?

Sidney Crosby had the lone Pittsburgh goal in the third period, his first point of the series.

Hoffman got it going first, thanks to a fortunate bounce off the end boards:

Methot and Brassard expanded the lead. Then Zach Smith scored to make it 4-0.

Kyle Turris added a goal in the second period.

The Penguins finished with 26 shots on goal, including just six in the third period. Craig Anderson was strong when he needed to be, once again.

Things got a little intense in the third:

The game ended with Senators fans wildly cheering their team, having put away the Penguins early and kept the door shut throughout a dominating Game 3 effort.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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