Ottawa, ON -- (Sports Network) - Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves to help the Pittsburgh Penguins complete the sweep of the Ottawa Senators with a 3-1 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Scotiabank Place.

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin and Jarkko Ruutu each had a goal as the Penguins won a playoff series for the first time since downing Buffalo in the 2001 Eastern Conference semifinals. In addition, it was the Penguins' first sweep of an opponent since beating Chicago in four straight to capture the Stanley Cup in 1992.

"Winning a playoff round is a great feeling," said Fleury. "We can relax a little bit and get focused for our next series. We can't wait to get at it again. We're a young bunch and we're both excited and ready for our next challenge. We want to keep getting wins for the next 12 games."

Cory Stillman scored the lone goal while Martin Gerber gave up two goals on 33 shots for the Senators, who failed in their bid to make a second-straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.

"We thought we could get the puck in more often and create a forecheck, but they did a better job in that department by a large margin," said Ottawa coach Bryan Murray. "The turnovers, the poor finishing, the inability at times to get the puck out of our own end. That became a big factor as the game wore on."

Despite being outshot, 14-5, in the first period, the Senators weathered the storm and kept the Penguins off the board as the period ended scoreless.

The scoring picked up in the second period as the team combined for three goals.

Pittsburgh took the lead at the 1:40 mark on the power play. Crosby had the disc at the left circle and fired a pass over to Malkin, who let loose with a shot on net that Gerber saved, but he was able to poke in his own rebound for his second goal of the playoffs.

Ottawa, though, tied the game halfway through the second. A shot from Wade Redden at the left point hit off of traffic in front of the net and Stillman eventually whacked it in to tie the contest.

Less than five minutes later the Penguins regained the lead. Tyler Kennedy grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and sprung Ruutu with an outlet pass. On the partial breakaway, Brian Lee did a good job of forcing Ruutu to the outside, but Ruutu spun around and his backhander went between the pads of Gerber for a 2-1 lead.

"I took the pass and got a half-breakaway, cutting down the middle," said Ruutu. "I kind of lost it a little bit, but I still had the reach. I turned around and just tried to get it on net."

The Senators appeared to tie the game with 2:59 left in the second as Antoine Vermette knocked in a rebound. However, a review of the play showed that he kicked the puck into the net and the goal was waived off.

"The ref explained it was a definite kicking motion," said Vermette. "It would have changed the momentum of the game, so it's disappointing. I had a lot of momentum and I tried controlling it with my stick. I was tripped up a bit at the same time. There's nothing I can do about it now, but get some rest and focus on how I can move my game forward."

Ottawa came close to tying the contest with under 10 minutes to play as Dany Heatley flicked a quick backhander on net from the slot through traffic, but Fleury swallowed it up to preserve the lead.

The Senators tried everything they could to tie the game, but in the final minutes they pulled Gerber from the net and Crosby put the puck into the empty-net in the final seconds of the game to seal the series victory.

Game Notes:

Crosby finished the first round with two goals and six assists while Malkin finished with two goals and five assists...It was the third time Ottawa has been swept in a playoff series and the first time since an opening-round loss to Toronto in 2001...It was the first time the Senators lost in the first round since a 2004 loss to the Maple Leafs in seven games...Fleury allowed just five goals on 112 shots in the series.