Ten memorable moments in the Sens-Pens rivalry Get your hate on, hockey fans. TSN's Ian Mendes counts down the most memorable moments of tension, animosity and drama between Ottawa and Pittsburgh.

On Saturday night, the Ottawa Senators will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference final, marking the fifth time these two teams have met in a playoff series in the past 10 years.

When you have two opponents who meet that frequently, you’re bound to have a history filled with tension, hatred and drama. The Senators and Penguins have had their fair share of bad blood over the past decade, so with that in mind, here’s a look at the 10 most memorable moments and incidents from their rivalry.

10. The great mural controversy of 2008

When Ottawa and Pittsburgh met in the 2008 playoffs, a lot of Pittsburgh media took note of an interesting change to the hallway inside the Senators home arena. A large wall close to the visitor’s dressing room was covered with a new mural showing the Senators eliminating the Penguins in the previous year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The enlarged picture of the post-series handshake line was taken as a slap in the face to the Penguins and, according to some, it served as added motivation for the team.

The Penguins were only subjected to that mural two times, however, as they ended up winning both games in Ottawa and completing a four-game sweep of the Senators. The mural was later removed by the Senators.

9. Colby Armstrong briefly becomes public enemy No. 1

It didn’t take long for the hatred to build between the Senators and Penguins in their first playoff meeting in 2007. In Game 2, Colby Armstrong violently crashed into Senators goaltender Ray Emery – duplicating an incident from when the two teams met during the regular season. This didn’t sit well with Mike Comrie, who dropped the gloves and fought Armstrong – even though the 5-foot-10 Comrie was never known for fighting.

In the next game, Armstrong delivered a violent body check to Senators forward Patrick Eaves – knocking out the young player and forcing him to leave the ice on a stretcher. While Eaves was lying motionless, Senators forward Dean McAmmond got into a spirited fight with Penguins forward Max Talbot. Eaves – a 20-goal scorer during the regular season – would miss the next 11 playoff games with a concussion suffered from the Armstrong hit.

8. Craig Adams takes out Daniel Alfredsson

In the final game before the Christmas break in the 2009-10 season, Daniel Alfredsson was in a vulnerable position when he was hit by Penguins forward Craig Adams. The hit left the Senators captain on the ice and dazed for several seconds, while teammate Milan Michalek jumped Adams in a fight. Alfredsson missed the next three weeks with a separated shoulder.

After the hit, an upset Alfredsson told reporters, "I'm trying to reach for the puck - I don't think I'll ever get to it, but in the position I am in there, I'm pretty vulnerable... and he stepped into me.”

7. Nick Foligno, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Murray and the war of words in 2011

In a November 2011 game between the Senators and Penguins, Sidney Crosby delivered an elbow to the head of Nick Foligno after the Sens forward made contact with Marc-Andre Fleury.

Crosby was given a two-minute minor penalty for the infraction. It would have ended there, if not for some interesting post-game comments from Foligno. The Senators forward accused Crosby of being hypocritical with his actions, after the Penguins superstar had just returned to the league from an extended absence due to a concussion.

“It’s not a big deal, but it is something that he preached all summer about that we should limit that and then he goes and does it, so I was just a little disappointed,” Foligno told reporters.

Crosby claimed his actions were merely in defence of his goaltender, who he says was being targeted by Foligno. This explanation incensed Senators general manager Bryan Murray, who went off on Crosby and the Penguins to the media.

“The rules are very clear now. If you fall into a goaltender and touch a goaltender, then an elbow to the head and a butt end to the head is fair game. Dan Bylsma said that’s okay for them. Sidney said Nick Foligno is that kind of player. I wish Nick was that kind of player,” Murray said. “Pittsburgh were the biggest ones on the head injuries. I’m remiss. I made a mistake. We didn’t have Neil and Carkner play in the game. We didn’t have enough toughness, so when we play Pittsburgh that’s something you can bring up to me again.”

Crosby responded to Murray’s comments by saying he wasn’t surprised because the Senators GM had been taunting him since he broke into the league as a rookie and Murray was behind the Senators bench.

“He’s been doing that since my first year. That’s nothing new,” said Crosby. The Penguins superstar added that he felt the story was being “blown out of proportion” by the media. But he did also say, “If they want to keep beating around it they can, but I don’t really have anything else to say about it. I think it’s ridiculous we’re still talking about it three days later to be honest.”

6. Spartan guy brings down the home crowd

Some Senators fans call him the Spartan guy. Others call him the Gladiator or the Centurion actor. No matter how you refer to him, everybody in Ottawa knows who you are talking about. The Spartan intro of 2008 is still one of the most talked about moments in Ottawa playoff history – for all the wrong reasons.

The club thought it would be a great idea to hire an actor to portray a Roman gladiator coming out to centre ice to fire up the crowd before the Sens crucial Game 3 on home ice against the Penguins. But his microphone cut out multiple times during his pre-game speech, making him more of a punchline than a motivator. The Senators went on to lose both games on home ice that year, with some feeling like the Spartan guy intro set the tone for failure on home ice.

5. The amazing comeback during the Hamburglar run

In the final week of the 2014-15 regular season, the Senators and Penguins met at Canadian Tire Centre for a massive showdown. Neither team had clinched a playoff spot, so the two points on the line were crucial for both clubs. A Penguins win in regulation time would clinch their playoff spot, while the Senators desperately needed two points just to stay alive in their mad-dash effort to make the postseason.

The Penguins jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, started by a Sidney Crosby goal off the opening faceoff just 10 seconds into the game. But the Senators hung around and rallied to tie the game in the late stages of the third period, outshooting the Penguins 18-3 in the final frame.

That set the stage for Mark Stone’s overtime goal to cap an amazing 4-3 comeback win that might have been the most unlikely Sens victory during the amazing Hamburglar run from the spring of 2015.

4. Sidney’s slash on Marc Methot

The most recent episode between the Senators and Penguins is also one of the most controversial moments between the two teams. In a March 23 game, Crosby slashed the hands of Senators defenceman Marc Methot as he was crossing the Penguins blueline.

At first glance, the slash appeared to be a minor incident, as Crosby wasn’t penalized on the play. But a few seconds later, Methot removed his glove to expose a gruesome injury, as the tip of his left pinky finger appeared to be hanging flimsily in a pool of blood.

Methot would not return to that game and missed the next 10 contests with a severed tip of his pinky finger. Doctors were able to re-attach it, but the injury was certainly graphic. Many in Ottawa were irate that Crosby was not suspended for the incident – especially after the extent of the damage to Methot’s finger was revealed.

Nobody was more vocal in his displeasure with the situation than Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who told TSN 1200 radio, “Sometimes they miss these things. I hope this guy, and we all know who he is, the guy is just a whiner beyond belief. You do this kind of stuff – and I don’t care who you are in the league. I don’t care if you’re the No. 1 player in the league, you should sit out a long time for this kind of crap.”

Crosby refused to get into a public war of words after being told of the comments from the Senators owner, but he did have a subtle shot of his own towards Melnyk.

“I’m just going to leave it guys. He just likes to hear himself talk. Let’s leave it.”

3. “Probably not”

The 2013 playoff matchup between the Senators and Penguins featured the ultimate high and low for Ottawa fans. In Game 3, Alfredsson scored one of the most memorable goals in franchise history, tying the game with an unlikely shorthanded goal with only 30 seconds left in regulation. Colin Greening would score the winning goal in double overtime and the Senators had crawled their way back into the series, trailing two games to one.

But Game 4 was a nightmare for Ottawa as they dropped a lopsided 7-3 decision on home ice. After the game, Alfredsson caused a major stir when he was asked if his team could come back to win this series. His answer of “probably not” raised a lot of eyebrows. Some applauded him for his honesty, while others were critical of his pessimistic nature – especially given his role as the captain. A lot of people were also intrigued by the fact Alfredsson picked up the puck at the end of the game, as it appeared to be a signal that it could be his final home game of his career.

That turned out to be true, as the Senators would lose Game 5 with another lopsided 6-2 score, dropping the series in five games. Alfredsson would sign a contract with the Detroit Red Wings in the summer.

McGuire: The slash should stay in the past for Methot, Senators NHL on NBC's Pierre McGuire on what Pittsburgh have to do to beat Ottawa, the Crosby slash on Methot is in the past, the Penguins depth, special teams, the health of the Senators and the Penguins and Nashville and Anaheim.

2. “So you’re an expert?”

In Game 2 of the 2010 series between the Senators and Penguins, Sens defenceman Andy Sutton delivered a devastating hit on Jordan Leopold in the neutral zone. Sutton came across the ice with such force that he actually went through the penalty box door. The hit left Leopold out cold on the ice, but Sutton went unpenalized on the play.

That certainly got the attention of Pittsburgh fans and media, who were incensed that Sutton was able to get away with such a devastating hit. After the game, one Pittsburgh reporter tried to confront Sutton about the hit, leading to one of the most awkward and heated exchanges between a player and reporter in recent memory.

Sutton’s constant use of “So you’re an expert?” is one of the memorable soundbites in Senators history.

1. Matt Cooke on Erik Karlsson

Without a doubt, the Penguins-Senators rivalry reached its peak on February 13, 2013 when the skate blade of Matt Cooke sliced the Achilles tendon of Erik Karlsson.

The injury would force Karlsson to miss the next two months – although the original projections had him missing anywhere from six-to-eight months. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Senators were publicly accusing Cooke of deliberately using his skate blade to cause an injury to the reigning Norris Trophy winner.

It started when Karlsson told reporters a week after the incident that, “Cooke knows exactly what he’s doing out there.” Karlsson was more in the camp that Cooke was reckless and could have prevented the injury, but the team owner took things a step further.

In March of 2013, Melnyk told a Toronto radio station that he was launching his own investigation into the incident because he steadfastly believed Cooke injured Karlsson on purpose.

“I’m going to prove whether it was intentional or not. You watch,” Melnyk said. “It may be public, it may not be public, but it’s between me and the league. I think it was intentional, but you have to be able to prove it.”

In his first game back in Ottawa that spring, there were ‘Wanted’ posters being handed out with Cooke’s face on it, as the venom toward him reached a peak. Cooke and the Senators would ultimately eliminate the Senators in five games in the playoffs that year – with Cooke and Karlsson playing minor roles in the series.

Cooke, for the record, never received any discipline from the league offices after the incident with Karlsson.