The Pittsburgh Penguins secured second place in the Metropolitan Division Friday night and with it home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
They defeated the visiting Ottawa Senators, 4-0.
“I’ve said it a lot, they’re a fun group to coach,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re competitive guys. They want to win. I think we have great leadership in our room. I think they play their best when the stakes are high. This has been a challenging year for us in a lot of different ways.
“What I love about our group is when the stakes get high, we play at our best. I think that’s an indication of the leadership that we have in the room.”
Casey DeSmith made 35 saves to earn his first NHL shutout.
“It’s thrilling,” DeSmith said. “Everything that you would expect it to be, it is. I’m just really thankful it came at an important time, in an important game. To clinch home ice is awesome. We want to be here as much as we can. Our home record (30-9-2) speaks for itself.”
Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, and Patric Hornqvist scored for the Pens.
“Our guys gave everything they had,” Senators head coach Guy Boucher said. “This was a real important game for [the Penguins]. We outshot them 35-23, but they capitalized on their opportunities and we did not. … We pushed, and we pushed, and we pushed. Their goalie played outstanding.
“In the end, they have those high-end scorers that don’t need as many scoring chances to put it in, and that’s how they are where they are.”
[WATCH:Â All Senators vs. Penguins highlights]
Craig Anderson made 19 saves in taking the loss.
“Finished the year here last year on a tough note and we wanted to give them a hard time tonight and get a win for ourselves. But we knew they were going to come out pretty hard. Obviously, they wanted home ice for the playoffs too. We played pretty well tonight, I thought. We had our chances, and obviously, the ones they got, they capitalized on,” the Senators’ Tom Pyatt said after the loss.
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