Senators winger Colin Greening had a bit of stick embedded in his face when he scored the Game 3 winner. (Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• One look at Colin Greening’s face proves how far a player will go to win in the playoffs.

• Daniel Alfredsson’s game-tying goal in the last minute turned what looked like a Pittsburgh sweep into a series that could go the distance.

• The Penguins always seem to do things the hard way, writes Dejan Kovacevic.

• Forget what opposing fans say. This player has proven himself to be one of the toughest in hockey with his performance in these playoffs.

• With a win, and Jason Spezza back in the lineup, there is hope in Ottawa.

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Colin Greening scored the winning goal in double overtime for the Senators (Jana Chytilova/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

The Ottawa Senators have it all wrong.

They call themselves “The Pesky Sens,” swiping a catchphrase from the Dallas Stars and using it as a hashtag on Twitter. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so misleading.

The Senators aren’t pesky. They’re resolute, resilient. They proved it again tonight, just when everyone was ready to write them off, piecing together their biggest win of the postseason by beating Pittsburgh 2-1 in double overtime in Game 3 to cut the Pens’ series lead to 2-1.

We’ve all made that mistake before. This is the same team that seemed destined for the draft lottery after losing Jason Spezza, then Craig Anderson, then Erik Karlsson in rapid succession. But the Senators proved everyone wrong, not just earning a playoff berth, but knocking off the second-seed Montreal Canadiens with ease.

So maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised to see them send what looked like a sure loss into overtime with a shorthanded beauty in the final minute off the stick of captain Daniel Alfredsson.

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Ottawa’s Craig Anderson had 48 saves in the Senators’ win over Montreal. (Minas Panagiotakis/Icon SMI)

By Brian Cazeneuve

The Ottawa Senators came out strong in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Canadiens, getting a 4-2 win in Montreal to take a 1-0 series lead. Here’s a breakdown of some major moments from the opening game.

• Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson made a fabulous play to slice through the Montreal defense and produce the first goal of the game. Last season’s Norris Trophy winner always looks like he’s just gliding along, not really pushing the play up the ice as fast as he is. It doesn’t matter how many times opponents have seen it or how many of them know it’s coming; everybody seems to underestimate Karlsson’s speed. By the time he had shifted his stride from his own end of the ice and into the neutral zone, it was already too late for the chasing Canadiens to close the gap on him. Karlsson split the space between Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec and then skipped the puck to Kyle Turris on his left side – it looked more like a lost puck than a pass, but who’s counting – and then took a return feed from Turris and tipped it behind Carey Price. How many times this season and last has Karlsson split forecheckers and defenses who misjudge his speed?

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Still chasing Lord Stanley’s sacred chalice, Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin are in each other’s way. (Getty Images)

By Brian Cazeneuve

For many players, the playoffs present a new opportunity to rewrite history and amend their legacies. But being an All-Star or, in some cases, a future Hall of Famer offers no guarantee of postseason success. Simply getting there in the first place can be an elusive goal. Just ask defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, a two-time All-Star who finally made his postseason debut after a deadline trade to St. Louis. He’d endured an NHL-record 764 games over 10 seasons with perennial also-rans Calgary and Florida before getting a chance to display his considerable skills in the bright spring spotlight.

PREVIEW: Players to watch | Staff picks | X-factors | More

Here are some of the other notable players who are trying to burnish résumés that may look individually scintillating, but still lack one important thing: a Stanley Cup.

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Zac Rinaldo and the Flyers beat Daniel Alfredsson’s Senators 2-1 on Saturday. (Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• Daniel Alfredsson threw discipline out the window to send a message to Philly’s Zac Rinaldo.

• Former NHLer Bates Battaglia is in the lead on The Amazing Race.

• If this were a normal season, Boston’s scrappy Brad Marchand would be on pace for 50 goals

• Wait … you didn’t watch Hockey Night In Canada last night? Other than the the most thrilling game of the season, here’s what Grapes had to say on Coach’s Corner. Meanwhile, they were talking Ryan O’Reilly and realignment on Hotstove Tonight.

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