Sens, Pens kick off Hockey Night's Round 2 playoff coverage

The lone Canadian team left in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and an Original Six rivalry will be featured on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada coverage of Round 2 beginning Tuesday night.

First, the Ottawa Senators hope to continue their quest to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993 when they take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:30 p.m. ET) in Game 1.

Pittsburgh and the Senators are meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. The Penguins have a 2-1 edge.

Ottawa may have some added incentive heading into Pittsburgh: 2012 Norris Trophy defenceman Erik Karlsson suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon when he was cut by Penguins forward Matt Cooke’s skate in February.

The blue-liner was forced to miss just over two months with the ailment while Cooke went unpunished by the league.

Ottawa’s goaltending will be put to the test, with a red-hot Craig Anderson (tied for second among playoff goalies with a .950 save percentage) in net to try and stop Pittsburgh’s post-season-best offence, which is finding the back of the net at a stellar pace of 4.17 goals-per-game.

The offence is powered by the likes of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin,Jarome Iginla and Pascal Dupuis, who have combined for 36 points.

Game 2 will be played Friday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:30 p.m. ET), followed by Game 3 Sunday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:30 p.m. ET) and Game 4 on Wednesday, May 22 (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7:30 p.m. ET).

Fans can also catch Don Cherry and Ron MacLean on Coach’s Corner during the first intermission of each game throughout the series.

All Penguins-Senators playoff contests will be preceded by the Scotiabank Hockey Tonight pre-game show 30 minutes prior to game time and hosted by Ron MacLean and the Hockey Night in Canada panel. Every game will also be available in Punjabi. 

Fans can play along and interact with Hockey Night in Canada: 2nd Screen for interactive polls, trivia and prizes during each Senators-Penguins broadcast.

Original 6 battle

A pair of Original Six squads highlight CBC’s Western Conference coverage of the second round.

Jonathan Toews and the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks will welcome the Detroit Red Wings starting Wednesday night (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET) for Game 1.

It will be the final time the clubs square off in pre-Stanley Cup final post-season play before the conferences realign next year and Detroit moves to the East.

The series continues for Game 2 Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 1 p.m. ET), and shifts to the Motor City for Games 3 & 4 (Monday, May 20 and Thursday, May 23 respectively).

The Red Wings may have momentum on their side, but they face a well-rested Blackhawks club. Detroit is coming off a 4-3 comeback series win over the No. 2-seeded Anaheim Ducks in Round 1, while No. 1 Chicago knocked off the Minnesota Wild in five games.

After being silenced for the first three games vs. Anaheim, sniper Henrik Zetterberg has been on fire.

The 32-year-old forward has amassed three goals and four assists in his last three games. But as hot as Zetterberg has been, Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford has been equally as brilliant.

The Chicago netminder is second in the playoffs with a .950 save percentage and 1.32 GAA.

Make sure to stick around for the Hockey Night in Canada Post-Game Show with host Andi Petrillo following every Hockey Night in Canada broadcast online at CBCSports.ca.

Stanley Cup Playoffs on CBC