Lookahead: Five observations on the Penguins - Senators series

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators meet in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in four seasons and the past two series were quickly over.

In 2007, the Senators were the superior team, eliminating Pittsburgh in five games. The Senators advanced to the Cup Finals in 2007, losing the Anaheim Ducks in 5 games.

In 2008, the roles were reversed as Pittsburgh was the dominant team, sweeping Ottawa in four games. Pittsburgh advanced to the Cup Finals, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

Is another 4 or 5 game series in the works?

The four games this season between the Senators and Penguins were split 2-2, with Pittsburgh winning 4-1 and 8-2, while the Senators won 6-2 and 4-1.

Ottawa matches up well against Pittsburgh in some areas and this series has the look of being at least a six game series.

The Senators head into the playoffs on a 7-2-1 run.

1. Chris Phillips - Anton Volchenkov vs Sidney Crosby: Due to Pittsburgh depth down the middle, the Penguins proved to be a nightmare to matchup against during their run through the Eastern Conference last post-season. Philadelphia, Washington and Carolina all lacked a No. 1 pairing and a strong No. 2 pairing to shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Ottawa poses a potential matchup problem in their ability to match a shutdown pairing in Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov against Crosby's unit. It's going to be the most intriguing matchup to watch in the series.

Behind the Phillips-Volchenkov pairing, Andy Sutton will likely draw the assignment against Evgeni Malkin. However, the Senators will be without top-four defenseman Filip Kuba which will be a blow to their depth on the blueline.

2. Production from Penguins wingers: What kind of production the Penguins get from their wingers is a mystery heading into the playoffs. Whether the Penguins can get the same kind of production they got from Ruslan Fedotenko, Max Talbot Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz last post-season is questionable at best.

Fedotenko, Talbot and Guerin combined for 22 goals last post-season, playing key roles in the Penguins success. Guerin is a year older, and Fedotenko and Talbot are having awful seasons, unlike last season when both went into the playoffs playing well.