Evgeni Malkin celebrates a goal (AP Photo)
If this was indeed the March of the Penguins, they should have just detoured straight to Ottawa.
Inasmuch as I would hesitate to call it tanking - after all, it's tough to accuse a legitimate Cup contender of throwing in the towel - you would be hard-pressed to find anyone say with a straight face that the Penguins, going through the motions in their season finale Sunday afternoon, were gunning for the top seed. It seemed pretty darn obvious the Penguins weren't exactly playing for a date with their cross-state cousin Flyers rather than orchestrating a matchup with the reeling Senators.
Giving your captain the afternoon off and playing with the same intensity shown in an intra-squad scrimmage just doesn't seem like traits employed by a team shooting for #1.
Now that isn't to say the Penguins had no interest winning in Philadelphia, but after Carolina's loss on Friday night, getting those two points wasn't what you or I would consider a pressing need.
When you enjoy the type of season the Penguins just had, I suppose you earn the right to hand-pick your initial foe in the playoffs and it looks like they got their wish in the form of the defending Eastern conference champions.
Now we shall see if there is such a thing as karma.
While the Senators were awfully close to pulling off one of the biggest choke jobs in NHL history, the fact remains there isn't much difference in the current team than the one that began the season 15-2 or, even more to the point, one that went to the Stanley Cup final one year ago.
Right now, they look like a shell of that team but if you are wondering what sleeping giant shouldn't be pricked and prodded this spring, it is the one dressed in black, red and gold.
Sure, they may be missing their captain, they may look like a team in disarray and may have goaltending issues.
But if the Senators can get one under their belt early and regain some of that lost confidence, look out.
And even if they hand-picked them for the opening round, the Penguins may be wise to let them continue to slumber for the next week or so.