The Eastern Conference Final between Pittsburgh and Ottawa is tied 1-1 heading to the Canadian capital after a 1-0 Penguins win in Game 2.

Only one goal was scored, but Game 2 was far superior to Game 1. Here are five takeaways after an emotional tilt:

Clean hit

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Let's get this one out of the way: Dion Phaneuf's monster hit on Bryan Rust in the first period - which knocked Rust out of the game - was clean. It's about as clean as a hit can get in this era of head injuries and increased concussion awareness.

Watch: Phaneuf levels Rust with devastating open-ice hit

Rust had his head down as he was cutting to the middle of the ice, and Phaneuf obliterated him, but kept his skates on the ice and led with his shoulder and not his elbow. Unless hits like Phaneuf's are outlawed for simply being unnecessary, they will forever remain part of the game.

That's not to say Rust deserved what he got - of course not. Phaneuf did make contact with his head, but that's because the defender is 6-foot-3, while Rust comes in at 5-foot-11. What's Phaneuf supposed to do?

There was no penalty on the play, and that was the right call.

Phaneuf laid out Jake Guentzel later in the game with almost the exact same hit, and no penalty was called on that play, either. Guentzel is 5-foot-10 and Phaneuf again kept his skates on the ice and led with his shoulder. There was unfortunate contact with Guentzel's head simply because of Phaneuf's height.

Clean. Both of 'em. That's hockey. Especially playoff hockey.

Kessel lives for the playoffs

The "Phil Kessel doesn't care" narrative is lazy and, frankly, bull-you-know-what. Look at his track record. Look at his Stanley Cup ring.

Kessel had a night Monday, though, as he went off at the Pens' bench in the second period, frustrated because the Penguins couldn't buy a goal despite dominating the game. He was particularly upset with Evgeni Malkin, his center, and the playoffs' leading scorer.

But all's well that ends well. Fittingly, Kessel scored the winner with 6:55 to play, with Malkin picking up the primary assist.

Watch: Kessel channels anger, scores Game 2 winner

The pair have been and will remain instrumental to Pittsburgh's success, and will be the rest of the way:

"It's emotional," Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game about the exchange on the bench. "They're heated for all the right reasons - because they're invested. We call it a man's argument."

Brothers fight sometimes. They're still family.

Penguins adapted

After being bottled up by the 1-3-1 Senators in Game 1, the Penguins adapted. They pushed the pace, they had the puck, and they took control - especially in a 0-0 game in the third period. All this while playing most of the game down two players.

Pittsburgh dominated possession, finishing with a 57-35 Corsi advantage:

(Courtesy: hockeystats.ca)

Make no mistake: Pittsburgh deserved the win, any way you look at it.

After the all-around dud that was Game 1, this contest delivered, and had a bit of everything. These teams are becoming increasingly disgusted with each other, and that's always fun, and also bodes well for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Sens need to push

The Senators are boring. Like, extremely boring. But what they're doing is working, and nobody wins the Stanley Cup on style points. However, Ottawa is going to have to push the tempo a little bit more.

This can't happen:

The Senators woke up after Kessel's goal, knowing they had to score to force overtime, comfortable in the knowledge they'd scored some late goals and OT winners in these very playoffs.

Ottawa finished with seven shots in the third, the majority of them in the final minutes, as it pressed for a goal and had some good looks with Craig Anderson on the bench.

It was too little, too late, but the Sens need more of that. They need to establish some sort of forecheck, especially in light of Pittsburgh's depleted defense. Justin Schultz was lost Monday, and the Pens essentially played all of Game 2 with only five defensemen.

Ottawa must pressure that defense corps more, all game.

Flower still blooming

A shutout in the playoffs is always special, and Marc-Andre Fleury pitched another one Monday. They're adding up.

Making the shutout that much more impressive was the fact Fleury didn't face a shot for almost 20 minutes.

Fleury was asked what he did while he essentially became a spectator.

"Wait," he replied.

Well put.

That's two shutouts in three games for Fleury - including a Game 7 clean sheet on the road in Washington against the regular season's best team to close out Round 2.

Remember: Fleury was set to back up Matt Murray ahead of Game 1 of the playoffs, before Murray was hurt in the warmup and Fleury took the crease. A backup no more, the crease belongs to the Flower once again, as one of the best stories of the playoffs continues.

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