PITTSBURGH -- For the Ottawa Senators to have any chance of upsetting the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, their best players are going to have to be their best players.

Erik Karlsson

Defense - OTT

GOALS: 1 | ASST: 5 | PTS: 6
SOG: 16 | +/-: 2

That definitely was not the case in Game 2 on Friday night.

Reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson was minus-2 and had more minor penalties (one) than points, hits and shots on goal combined. Goalie Craig Anderson, the NHL regular-season leader in goals-against average and save percentage, was pulled after allowing three goals on 21 shots. Longtime captain and franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson had one shot on goal and was minus-1.

The result? A 4-3 win for the Penguins and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"It's one of those things where you've got to keep getting better," Anderson said. "You're going to have some adversity, and teams are going to have to battle through it."

The Senators don't have much time to do that if they are going to stay in the series. Game 3 is Sunday at Scotiabank Place (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS). A loss in that game could all but turn out the lights on Ottawa's season.

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby was at his best Friday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. As a result, he rewrote the Pittsburgh Penguins' history book a bit and gave his team a 2-0 series lead against the Ottawa Senators.

Sidney Crosby

Center - PIT

GOALS: 6 | ASST: 6 | PTS: 12
SOG: 32 | +/-: 0

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said he started the line of Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis because he wanted to send a message to his team about how important the game was.

"You look to those guys to set the tone to come out and not only just set the tone but the way we play, the way we execute -- that's why you start that line and what you got from the veteran guys to start the game," Bylsma said after a 4-3 victory that featured a Crosby hat trick.

Crosby's line did not score on the opening shift, but they did dominate zone play to put the Senators back on their heels. Crosby was on the board soon enough, though.

Nikita Zadorov showed why he's so highly regarded for the 2013 NHL Draft.

The London Knights defenseman jumped into the play early in the third period and banged in the rebound of a Scott Harrington shot for the game-winning power-play goal as the Ontario Hockey League champions opened play at the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 3-2 win against the host Saskatoon Blades.

The game was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, but London took advantage when Saskatoon's Darren Deitz was sent off for high-sticking at 3:56 of the third period.

A statement issued by Sharks general manager Doug Wilson on Friday said, "Although it's unfortunate that Jarret was injured on the play, we feel this decision is grossly unfair to Raffi, his teammates and our fans. However, Raffi does not want to be a distraction to his teammates and has decided not to appeal this suspension and we respect that decision."

Torres was suspended for the remainder of the second-round series by the NHL for his hit on Stoll in the opener Tuesday. Stoll did not play in Game 2, and there's no word if or when he'll return.

On his second shift of the game, Crosby took the puck at his own blue line and skated through the neutral zone along the left-side boards. At the attacking blue line, he faked out defenseman Erik Karlsson, who was caught a bit on his heels, and got free in the circle to snap off a low shot that beat Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson to the far side to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the first.

Nine times to be exact. They've lost all nine series and never forced a Game 7.

But this time, the Sharks are determined to make history instead of repeat it.

"I know we can come back," defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said Friday. "We just have to take care of home ice. They took care of home ice in L.A. We'll do the same, and we'll be back at zero-zero again. We got to come out strong in Game 3. The guys in here are very excited about tomorrow night. We're ready to respond, and we will."

Crawford, Chicago's starting goalie, was asked about Detroit not having much stamina in the final two periods of a 4-1 loss Wednesday at United Center, the opening game of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Red Wings, who made six cross-country flights during a seven-game quarterfinal against the Anaheim Ducks, said they expect to be faster and better in Game 2 here Saturday (1 p.m., NBC, CBC).

"I don't really care, to be honest," Crawford snapped. "It's more about us. Whatever their travel is or whatever their schedule is doesn't really affect us. We expect them to play hard and to bring their best game. That's what we're preparing for."

CHICAGO -- Spend a couple of days with Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and it quickly becomes evident he has a few favorite phrases when discussing his players.

One of them is "predictability in his game." It's another way of saying a player offers consistent effort and is reliable. It also perfectly describes the play of Blackhawks center Dave Bolland.

Quenneville found out Friday that Bolland might not always be so predictable off the ice. Asked about his coach, who was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the League's best, Bolland called Quenneville "a big teddy bear."

"Really? A teddy bear?" Quenneville said after a hearty chuckle. "I hadn't been called that one before. That's surprising. Pretty tough to comment on that one."

Bolland returned to the Blackhawks lineup in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals after missing the final three games of the regular season and the opening round against the Minnesota Wild with a groin injury. He skated on the third line and logged 11:36 of ice time, easily the least he's played in 50 career Stanley Cup Playoff games for Chicago.

Still, the guy who has earned a reputation as a "playoff player" was noticeable in his brief appearances.

BOSTON -- The New York Rangers power play has regressed from being ineffective to creating momentum for the other team. If it continues this way, the light at the end of the tunnel is bound to go dark after the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

"We said early on that special teams wins you games, wins you series," Rangers forward Rick Nash said, "and we're not getting it done right now."

They weren't even close in Game 1 against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, when they went 0-for-3 in a 3-2 overtime loss to fall to 2-for-31 on the power play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers struggled to even gain the zone against the Bruins' aggressive penalty kill. Their breakouts weren't clean and they turned over the puck.

BOSTON -- It's a rare sight to see the Boston Bruins' power play as a weapon that wears out the opposition and tilts a game in Boston's favor.

If you didn't witness it, and didn't hear everyone talking about it, you might not believe how important the man-advantage was to the Bruins' 3-2, Game 1 win against the New York Rangers Thursday in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

In addition to tying the game on a Torey Krug power-play goal, the Bruins kept the Rangers pinned in their zone for nearly the entire four minutes of a minor to New York defenseman John Moore late in regulation then a Derek Dorsett minor penalty in overtime.

"You've just got to keep the momentum on your side. I think our two units [Thursday] were creating some pretty good scoring chances," Bruins center David Krejci said. "Even though we didn't score, other than Krug's goal, we kept the momentum on our side. And right after the power play, the next line who was out there, they were playing well, they kept the momentum on our side. So it's very important, too, if you don't score on the power play, to create some chances and keep the momentum on your side."