With his overtime marker in Game 1, Ryan became the first Senator in franchise history to record 2 overtime winning goals in the same post-season. Ottawa Senators’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) celebrates with teammates Mark Stone (61) and Bobby Ryan (9) after scoring against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final in the National Hockey League.
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Whew, this is going to be a blazing Eastern Conference championship series as the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to make it back into the National Hockey League finals and defend the Stanley Cup.
Russian hockey officials announced that Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin played through injury before Washington was eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. No, I don’t. Do I think we played terribly?
Evegni Malkin and Phil Kessel form half of the Penguins’ core four that carries the load on offence.
Anderson then got to spend Mother’s Day with wife Nicholle and their two children after doctors cleared Nicholle to travel while awaiting the next step in her battle against throat cancer.
Consider the message delivered.
The Penguins had plenty of chances to take control but produced nothing out of four first-period power plays, including 45 seconds of a 5-on-3 that went nowhere. “I just think we have to recognize where the opportunities are on the rink to create, and there’s going to be some situations where we can’t”.
That’s just Kessel being Kessel. Anderson stopped 27 of 28 shots in game 1.
Kessel’s breakthrough came with six minutes, 55 seconds remaining in game two of the Eastern Conference Finals.
“I caught an edge (with a skate in the ice)”. I don’t know even how to get on it. Ryan, in alone, had a two-point night and top-shelf on the backhand to beat Marc-Andre Fleury at 4:59 of overtime. The puck zipped over Fleury’s glove and suddenly Ottawa had the lead.
Fleury and Kessel shared the spotlight, especially after the right winger finally figured out Anderson.
Game 3 is Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Crosby doesn’t believe the Penguins have to change much even though the Senators are “pretty committed to protecting their net”.
Injured defenceman Mark Borowiecki, who was sidelined of the line-up in Game 2 of the Sens’ first-round series against the Bruins is doubtful of play in game 2.
Somehow, the Penguins found a way to make it work.
Of course, that dramatic goal wound up being moot, as the game ended five minutes into overtime with Ryan’s score. But at least now when I say theres going to be pushback the guys can imagine it now. “They’re not going to give you anything but we worked hard to get our chances and we’ve got to bury them when we get them”. “You don’t have any other choice”.
Only twice in the playoffs did the Penguins tally fewer shot blocks – in Game 4 against Columbus and Game 6 against Washington, they had 13. It’s a style that produced both goals in Game 1. Only once have they lost in extra time.
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“The third period they stepped it up a notch and we didn’t”, Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. They aggressively forechecked, they put shots on net and essentially lived in the offensive zone. Hornqvist has been dealing with a series of bumps and bruises incurred while blocking shots during the opening two rounds of the playoffs. On the bench he was in obvious distress and the PPG Paints Arena turned into the world’s largest waiting room, 18,000-plus waiting to see if Crosby would take that long walk down to the dressing room for examination by the medical staff.
