Crosby on 4-1 loss to Senators: "We didn't play a tough enough game."

The Ottawa Senators tied a franchise record Thursday night with their eighth win in a row, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Thursday night at Mellon Arena.

The Senators got another strong performance from goaltender Brian Elliott who led the way for Senators making 30 saves for his 6th straight win. Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin (19) scored a 1:34 into the game but Elliott shut the door on the defending champs for the remaining 58:26 in regulation.

Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno all scored for the Senators who have now cut Pittsburgh's lead for fourth place in the Eastern Conference to three points. The Senators rebounded Thursday night from their embarrassing 8-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 23

For Pittsburgh, it was a disappointing group of players in the locker room afterwards, as the Penguins put together a "lackluster effort". They didn't execute and according to captain Sidney Crosby, "We didn't play a tough enough game."

Surprisingly, the players have been given a day off on Friday, as the team has cancelled a scheduled practice. It has sparked some player movement speculation late tonight as Thursday's game was heavily scouted and Tom Fitzgerald, the Penguins assistant to the GM and assistant GM Jason Botterill have been on scouting trips this week.