The Penguins had more than a few chances to put this game away long before they actually did. But you know what? It doesn't matter, and the Pens are going home for Game 6 with a chance to end the series at Mellon Arena and send Alex Ovechkin and company home packing.
Evgeni Malkin's pass, intended for Sidney Crosby at the left post, was deflected in by a diving Tom Poti past Simeon Varlamov at 3:28 of overtime. Malkin celebrated with his teammates as the classy folk in China Town D.C sent garbage soaring into the mob.
Prior to the goal, a Capital forward ran into the stationary stick of Phillipe Boucher and took an epic flop that was properly left uncalled by referee Bill McCreary. The entire sequence took place after Malkin drew a penalty on a semi-break away but was tripped twice by Milan Jurcina and John Erskine, leading to the powerplay.
Ovechkin had two goals, one of which tied the game with a little over four minutes left in the third period. While none of us particularly like him, he's a supreme sniper to any player the league has seen since Maurice Richard.
His goal in the second period was the best shot I've ever seen.
Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Matt Cooke also scored for the Penguins.
Nicklas Backstrom had the non-Ovechkianic marker for the Caps.
Notes-
-This was a very well officiated playoff game. Way to let the teams play.
-Malkin was an animal.
-Marc-Andre Fleury was adequate.
-Varlamov was a rebound machine.
-Fedotenko is on fire.
-The third line was back in old form.
-The Penguins absolutely must close things out at home on Monday night.
Go Penguins.
No comments:
Post a Comment