Stockholm, SWE – In their “home” opener, held at the not so close to home Globe Arena, the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up their first win of the season by thrashing the Ottawa Senators, 5-2.

With fans expecting to see a battle of superstars, the Penguins were carried to victory by some of the unlikeliest sources. Tyler Kennedy tallied the game winner, and Brooks Orpik, Darryl Sydor, and Matt Cooke each produced two point games.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves in the victory, including a great deal of key saves late in the contest.

“You can’t ask for a much better opening day start from Flower,” Therrien said.

In the first period Ottawa jumped out to an early lead, as Jason Spezza fired a shot past Fleury at 9:12, thanks to a pass from Nick Foligno.

The Penguins responded at 12:01, as they capitalized while Ottawa was a man up. With Pascal Dupuis in the penalty box, Jordan Staal retrieved a dump-in and snuck a wraparound past Martin Gerber to tie the game.

Offseason signing Miroslav Satan gave the Penguins a 2-1 advantage off a faceoff in the second period. Sidney Crosby drew the puck to Brooks Orpik, who fed Satan for a spectacular shot that snuck inside the top left corner of the net.

However, the lead did not last, as Dany Heatley one-timed a Daniel Alfredsson pass past Fleury to knot the contest at two.

The Penguins took the lead while on an extended 5-on-3 powerplay at 16:19, as Tyler Kennedy received a long outlet pass from Ruslan Fedotenko and beat Gerber on a breakaway, utilizing a forehand-backhand move to deke the netminder.

The Penguins were 1-for-6 with the man advantage in the contest. Ottawa was 0-for-3.

Sydor pushed the lead to two goals at 3:41 of the third period, as his slapshot ricocheted off Gerber’s shoulder and into the cage. At 10:13, Pascal Dupuis ended the scoring with a shorthanded tally. Dupuis gathered a Cooke flip in the corner and tapped a shot between Gerber’s legs.

“We took over the game, no doubt,” Crosby said. “They fought hard, but we put them away every chance we could.”

The Senators will get a chance at redemption tomorrow, as the teams will meet again at the Globe Arena, this time for Ottawa’s “home” opener.