The next few months are going to be spent searching for those answers.
Advertisement
Pittsburgh’s Nick Bonino scored 6:32 into overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win over Washington on Tuesday, clinching the hotly contested NHL Eastern Conference semifinal in six games and eliminating the team which had been the Stanley Cup title favorite. “There were some anxious moments there”. I think that will always be thrown at us until we get through that.
Brooks Orpik sits with Daniel Winnik as Pittsburgh celebrates its a 4-3 overtime win. From the day he arrived in December, Sullivan has preached the importance of getting the puck to the net rather than search for the flawless play, a trap both Crosby and Malkin have succumbed to at times during their careers in part because their talent and vision allow them to take risks others would not. “It wasn’t pretty, but they’re usually not”.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2013 where they were swept by the Boston Bruins. Tampa Bay rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Penguins in a first-round series in 2011. In 12 playoff games the Russian captain of the Washington Capitals scored recorded five goals and seven assists. Bonino is a new face on the Penguins roster this season who has yet to reach a conference final in his playoff runs with Vancouver and Anaheim.
It’s all about what we do that determines the outcome of the games we love.
Braden Holtby stopped 38 shots for the Capitals and Matt Murray stopped 36 shots for the Penguins. “But, again, we lost in the second round”. The Capitals haven’t been able to climb out of the second round of the playoffs since 1998 but this year was supposed to be different and yet somehow, here we are again, talking about wasted potential, Ovechkin’s legacy and whether the regular season even matters. No Penguins defenseman iced the puck during Washington power plays more than his often wild one-timers did, and you could probably say the same thing in the Flyers series, despite the Caps’ phenomenal success in that department. The 21-year-old has come out of nowhere this season to enter the picture when it comes to Conn Smythe talk.
The Capitals would get another power-play opportunity with under 3 minutes to go but they didn’t convert.
They made good on just one, however, with John Carlson’s rocket tying the game at three with 13:01 left in regulation. D Trevor Daley (Blackhawks) and Hagelin were added in midseason trades.
NIcklas Backstrom had his best spurt in the series in setting up a pair of Washington goals in their Game 6 comeback, but he certainly was far too inconsistent up to that point.
“When Malkin got hurt and we were into real important games to make the playoffs, Phil really stepped up”, Rutherford said. Maybe Orpik provided the noose, but Washington didn’t score well for much of the series. “We had some penalties, and it’s hard to get momentum going then, but we have to come out desperate from the drop of the puck”.
“We have the best goalie in the league, we have a solid group of guys on the defensive side, and all four lines can play well”.
A lot of buzz is surrounding the line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, and Phil Kessel.
Kessel carried the puck from the edge of the left circle into the slot and, deciding not to pass to Crosby at the right post, deked Holtby with a move and slid the puck into a wide-open net at 7:05 for his fifth of the playoffs.
Having said all of that, this was not the same Capitals team that has been branded as chokers over the years in honour of their consistent underachievement. “He’s our best penalty killer, and it showed”.
The third period was all Capitals, and Justin Williams ensured some nervy final minutes for the Penguins when he scored to make it 3-2 7:23 into the third.
The Capitals were the best team in the league for much of the season, just not over a six-game stretch from late April through mid-May. His third-period saves May 10 were wonderful.
Advertisement
It’s fun watching Brian Dumoulin do that now.
