At times, it has been the Penguins’ best line.
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Except that the four points for which Crosby and Malkin combined were spread over six games during Round 2 against the Capitals, hardly the offensive impact expected of them.
Oshie’s power-play goal with 1:30 left in the second gave the Capitals a chance, but seemingly not much.
Murray shows unbelievable poise and maturity for a young man of his age. This is the 4th time in 10 years they have gone to the eastern conference finals. Alexander Ovechkin finished the playoffs with 12 points in 12 games. Just different. His laid-back personality may even enable him to be that clutch playoff player. They just took too many damn penalties (more on that later). No blown 2-0 or 3-1 series lead. I still maintain that the blood rule is foolish and chance driven and shouldn’t still be the standard for the penalty but it is and it was last night.
“We really like how that line has come together the last 6-8 weeks of the season”, he said.
Kessel now has five goals and 12 points in 11 postseason games this spring.
“Olli is a game-time decision, and if he plays, he’s a very good player”. And then Carl Hagelin, making it 3-0.
Kessel went to the corner to retrieve the puck and passed it to Hagelin in the slot.
The Leafs, without Kessel to score 30, couldn’t buy a goal most of the year, which allowed them to sink into the National Hockey League basement, win the draft lottery and get a teenager superstar who can step into their lineup next season. You certainly did by taking that double-minor that resulted in two goals for the Penguins.
The porch light came on a couple minutes into overtime, but I wasn’t going back inside.
Williams did his part, living up to his reputation as one of the sport’s all-time clutch performers by scoring in both Games 5 and 6 when his team was facing elimination.
Naturally, the Caps “Crying Jordan” memes took over Twitter shortly after Tuesday night’s game. “They throw a lot of pucks to let him go 100 feet down the ice and track them down”. Kessel said. “I’m happy to be here”. There would be a lot of sustained pressure in the offensive zone killed with players just rifling the puck over the glass with no repercussion. The Caps still have the core of their team locked under contract through 2017, as the only notable free agents this summer will be center Marcus Johansson, energy players Tom Wilson and Jason Chimera, and defenseman Dimitry Orlov. It happens at all levels of hockey, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
But the Penguins came back themselves to beat the Capitals for the eighth time in their nine all-time playoff matchups.
It is a rematch of the two teams’ memorable playoff battle in 2011, when Tampa Bay recovered from a 3-1 series deficit to advance. He looked more like the guy that played himself out of Hart Trophy consideration late in the regular season. He could have been talking about the playoffs, where inspired flashes of play mixed with tentative, defensive stretches where Washington seemed to be waiting for counterattacks that they never bothered to deploy.
The first round of the playoffs gave an indication of what we would see later on. I have no idea how salary would work given the Stars now pay the most for goaltending in the league but I can’t imagine they are too thrilled with their goaltending situation. The time to strike is the draft and even if it is a hard decision it is the logical one.
Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins knew it.
“It’s a bit of difference, right?” said Kessel, acquired last July from Toronto. In years past this was a death sentence for the Penguins. Now the team is able to overcome those dry spells. I think all of us have our own definitions of what it means to be competitive. Yet, it’s Sid the Kid who is moving on. He will be an enormous factor in the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa Bay.
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ian Cole (28) and Washington Capitals’ Tom Wilson (43) collide during the first period of Game 6 in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinals in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. This is a team that is good at worst, with the potential to be great.
Who deserves the most credit for the emerging line?
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In this series, most of all, Pittsburgh relied on Kessel, Hagelin and Bonino.
