8 tweets that defined Game 2 between the Senators and Penguins

Two days after the Ottawa Senators bested the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of theEastern Conference final, the squads squared off again Monday night.

• 8 tweets that defined Game 1 of the Senators-Penguins series
• 4 years later, Bobby Ryan trade paying off for Senators

Would the Senscome out once morewith grit and intensity? Bobby Ryan, the hero of Game 1, certainly looked prepared for a battle.

And battle's not the worst way to describe the first period, either.

It mayhave been a goalless affair, butthe initial 20 minutes werepacked with a bunch ofbonecrunching hits including this onefrom Dion Phaneuf on the Penguins' BryanRust.

Mercy. Let's take a look at thatfrom a slightly different angle:

The hit would end Rust's night, and the physical play continued throughout the second, with Phaneufleveling Sidney Crosby about halfway through the period.

Although the Penguins managed twice as many shots as the Senators in the second period, they couldn't find the back of the net.

That led to a bit of post-shiftsurlinessbetween linemates Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin.

For most of the third period, it looked like Craig Anderson's solid netminding, combined with Ottawa'sdefensive play, meant the Senators would be off to theireighth overtime game of the 2017 playoffs.

But thenKesselgot a pass from his goodbuddyMalkin and, with 6:55 left in regulation time,slotted his own rebound pastAnderson.

Just like that, with time running out, Pittsburgh had a precious one-goal lead.

If that lead felt insurmountable, it's probably because the Penguins for a significant stretch in the latter halfof Game 2 weren't exactly giving Ottawa many opportunities to get on the scoreboard.

The Sens sentAnderson to the bench with 1:26 left in the game, and with the extra skaterfinally had a couple of cracks at beating Pittsburgh netminderMarc-Andr Fleury.

But there would be no late game heroics tonight, as the Penguins held off the final barrageand levelledthe Eastern Conference finalat a game apiece.

And while Senators fans would have loved to have taken the first two games of the series especially on the road inPittsburgh manyweren't letting the Game 2 loss get to them.

The series heads to Ottawa for Game 3 Wednesday night.