Pittsburgh players Evgeni Malkin and Jarko Ruutu both scored second-period goals to help send the Penguins into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. With their series sweep over the Ottawa Senators, many are thinking that this may be the team to beat down the stretch.

Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby scored on the empty net in the dieing seconds of the game and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves on the night. This is the Penguins’ first sweep in 16 years and their first playoff series win since 2001.

“It feels great,” Crosby said. “Obviously, it was a different situation last year and we definitely went through some learning experiences there, but we responded well here in the first round.”

Currently most sportsbooks have the Pittsburgh Penguins at 4/1 odds to win the 2008 Stanley Cup.