updated 2:46 a.m. ET April 20, 2007

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators brought a decisive end to Sidney Crosby’s teenage years in the NHL.

Ray Emery made 20 saves for his first playoff shutout, leading Ottawa to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night to win their first-round series in five games.

Dany Heatley, Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly scored second-period goals and the Senators held Crosby without a point for a second straight game.

Pittsburgh’s 19-year-old superstar was covered by defensemen Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips throughout the series and the Penguins’ power play went 0-for-6 Thursday to finish with no goals in its last 17 opportunities.

“We got beat by a great hockey team that’s got a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.

Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson praised Crosby’s effort in the series, which marked the prodigy’s playoff debut.

“He played really well,” said Alfredsson, who set up Heatley’s power-play goal early in the second. “Obviously we do pay attention when he’s on the ice all the time. We knew we wanted Volchenkov and Phillips out against him and we didn’t give him too much room, especially the last two games. He’s one heck of a player, there’s no question.”

Emery helped Ottawa weather two early 5-on-3s, including one that lasted 1:14 after Dean McAmmond was given a delay of game minor for backhanding the puck over the glass with Wade Redden already in the penalty box.

“Ray Emery was tremendous,” Vermette said. “He made some big saves at key moments and then we took over and built some momentum. That was huge for us tonight.”

Heatley scored his second goal of the series on a power play 1:08 into the second and Vermette made it 2-0 when he drove through the slot and scored on Marc-Andre Fleury.

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Kelly brought the sellout crowd to its feet with a roar once again when he beat Fleury at 17:55.

Ottawa, which has never squandered a 3-1 series lead, advances to face one of the three teams in the New York area.

“I thought we stuck to the game plan for pretty much every game, really executed well and came out of it with not a lot of injuries,” Emery said. “We’re pretty healthy.”

The fourth-seeded Senators will either travel to No. 2 New Jersey, or host the sixth-seeded New York Rangers or the eighth-seeded New York Islanders when the second round begins.

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