Pittsburgh, PA (My Sportsbook) - Ryan Malone scored the game-winning goal with 1:02 remaining in regulation, as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the Ottawa Senators, 5-3, to grab the first two contests of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals series.

Malone finished with two goals and an assist for the second-seeded Penguins, while Petr Sykora lit the lamp twice. Sidney Crosby registered four assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to earn the win.

Shean Donovan, Cory Stillman and Cody Bass each had a goal for the seventh- seeded Senators, who will host Game 3 on Monday. Martin Gerber allowed four goals on 53 shots in defeat.

"I felt we killed too many penalties to get a chance and really get into the game early, but I thought we worked hard," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "I thought we stayed poised. I thought Martin Gerber made some stops that allowed us to stay in the game and we stayed in the game."

Trailing 3-0 in the second period, the Senators battled all the way back and tied the score on Bass' first career playoff goal at 8:51 of the third period. Persistence paid off for the rookie, who banged home his own rebound to draw the Senators even.

With 1:14 left in the third, Ottawa's Martin Lapointe was called for high- sticking and the Penguins wasted little time on the power play. Gerber kicked out Marian Hossa's backhander, but Malone gathered the rebound, circled behind the goal, came around the near post and stuffed the puck into the back of the net with 1:02 remaining.

Malone added an empty-net marker in the dying moments to seal the win.

"He (Gerber) played well," Crosby said. "Fifty-four shots, four goals against is a good job by him. For us, if we get those shots every night, there's only so much a goalie can do. I like our chances."

Pittsburgh raced out of the gate and thoroughly dominated the opening stanza, holding a 20-8 edge in shots. Gerber was solid between the pipes, but the Penguins finally got on the board with the first of their three power-goals. As the seconds dwindled down on the Penguins' two-man advantage, Evgeni Malkin threw the puck up high to Sergei Gonchar, whose laser found room in the top right corner of the net with 3:50 to play before the first intermission.

The Penguins grabbed a 2-0 lead at the 5:22 mark of the second period. As Chris Phillips served a two-minute minor for high-sticking, Pittsburgh put on a dazzling passing sequence to net its second power-play goal. Crosby whipped the puck across the ice to Malkin, who fired a perfect pass from the right circle to the edge of the crease that Sykora shoveled into the net.

Sykora made it 3-0 with his second goal of the game. As Malkin neared the top of the left circle, he faked a shot before dishing to Sykora, whose one-timer sailed into the back of the net with 9:08 remaining in the middle stanza.

Ottawa registered its first goal of the series 33 seconds later. Chris Neil threw the puck on goal and Donovan, who crashed the net, chipped it over the right shoulder of Fleury.

The Senators utilized their power play to narrow the deficit to 3-2. Stillman executed a perfect give-and-go down low with Dany Heatley. Stillman dropped the puck to Heatley at the goal line and immediately headed to the net, where he tucked Heatley's return feed between the pads of Fleury with 3:49 left in the second.

Game Notes

Anton Volchenkov was in the lineup for the Senators in Game 2. The defenseman left in the second period of the series opener after he was hit in the head by a Malkin shot. Volchenkov donned a full face shield...Malkin had three assists, while Hossa finished with two...Mike Commodore registered two helpers for the Senators...Pittsburgh finished 3-for-6 on the power play and Ottawa went 1-for-2.