8 tweets that defined Game 1 of the Senators-Penguins series

And so it begins: the Eastern Conference finals.

The Ottawa Senators, only four wins away from the Stanley Cup finals, headed across the borderSaturday night to take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yet again, it wasanother overtime thriller. Let's take things over to Twitter for the recap.

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Much as ancient Scottish clans used bagpipes to frighten and intimidate their enemies, Ottawafans back home well, one particular teenaged fan, at least had the same idea Saturdaynight on SensMile.

Perhaps the musical intimidation worked, because it would be Ottawa scoring first specifically,Jean-Gabriel Pageau, the man who terrorized New York so thoroughly in Game 2 of the previous series.

It's worth taking a moment to appreciatethe nifty pass from Bobby Ryanthat set it up.

Reminder: if you're excitedly texting your pals about big Ottawa Senators goals, keep an eye on that sneakyautocorrect function.

The Sens killed off three penalties in the first period, negated a fourth one early in the second, and then a Mark Stone interference infractionsent the Penguins back onto the power play for a fifth time.

That was when Craig Anderson decided to defy a handful of well-establishedlaws of physics:

The big save kept the Senators in front, and they almost added another one withabout seven minutes left in the period, sneaking the puck past Penguins netminder Marc-Andr Fleury and into the corner of the net.

But the goal was disallowed, with the referee claiming he was in the process of blowing his whistle as Fleury had already gloved the puck.

Had he? Let's take a look.

Those were a few of the onlyhighlights in the second, which ended the same way it began: with the Senators up by a lone goal.

On Twitter, some folks may have suggested during the second intermissionthat the Sens' defence-first approach to Game 1 was proving less than thrilling.

Indeed, no cares were given until about 5:35 left in the third, whenPittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin spun and tipped the puck backhandedpast Anderson tying the game at a goal apiece.

Some had been wondering earlier in Game 1 why Malkin hadn't been more of a presence. No longer.

And so, for the seventh timeduring the 2017 NHL playoffs, the Ottawa Senators would be forced to settle matters in overtime.

Who would be the hero? Once again, it would be Bobby Ryan,who found a burst of speed five minutes into extra time and put a backhandpast Fleury his second overtime winner of the 2017 playoffs.

Ryanmay have had a forgettable regular season, but the way things have been going lately for the Sens, it's easy to chuckleabout it.

We do now, though. The series stays in Pittsburgh for Game 2, gettingunderway Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.