For T.J. Oshie, scoring a hat trick in overtime in a Stanley CUp Playoff game was something he'd only dreamed about as a young boy. Oshie turned that dream into reality when he scored the game-winning goal at 9:33 into overtime to complete the hat trick and to give the Capitals a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at The Verizon Center yesterday. "I haven't won too many championships in my lifetime," Oshie said. "Maybe through the youth years. That's kind of the stuff you dream about when you're a kid playing in the backyard by yourself is scoring the OT winner and getting a hat trick. It was awesome." Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Saturday at 8 p.m. (ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) as the Capitals look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead while the Pittsburgh Penguins look to even the series at 1-1 before they head to Pittsburgh for games 3&4 at the Consol Energy Center.
Game 1 was a very close tight game as both teams traded chances in the first period but couldn't capitalize until Andre Burakovsky scored at 10:13 of the first to give Washington the 1-0 lead. As the second period started, the Pittsburgh Penguins began to the pressure on the Capitals and at 10:40 of the second, Ben Lovejoy tied the game up at one when tipped in the rebound off of Nick Bonino's shot after Bonino stick handled through Capitals Defensemen Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov and put a shot on net. That was Lovejoy's first goal of the playoffs this year. 57 seconds later, Evgeni Malkin scored to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Oshie tied it up at 2-2 at 12:10 with a breakaway goal after he picked up a turnover by Penguins Defenseman Olli Maatta in the neutral zone, skated down the wing with speed, and beat Murray glove side for his second goal of the playoffs. But he wasn't done yet, Oshie scored again at 3:23 of the second period to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead and that was his second goal of the game. But the Penguins would not give up and they would tie this game up at 3-3 when Nick Bonino< sitting in the right circle, received a pass from Carl Hagelin from behind the net for his first goal of the postseason. The remained tied after three periods of play and the Oshie would end the game in overtime with his third goal of the game to complete the hat trick. The Pittsburgh Penguins look to steal home ice advantage tomorrow and carry the moment back to Pittsburgh. Go Penguins!!!!!!!!!!
The Pittsburgh Penguins kept history from repeating itself as a second-period surge gave the Penguins a 6-3, Game 5 win against the New York Rangers that ended their Eastern Conference First Round series at Consol Energy Center on Saturday. After losing to New York in each of the past two Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Penguins won three straight games eliminate the Rangers 4-1. Coach Mike Sullivan stated that, "We certainly didn't want to have to go back to New York for Game 6, I think when you have teams at that elimination point, you want to do your best to take care of business right then and there. We did speak about that with our group." And they'd just that by scoring five unanswered goals after they were trailing 2-1 with less than ten minutes left in the first period. Their first goal was scored by former Ranger Carl Hagelin who tied the game up at 1-1 when he drove the crease to receive a pass from Phil Kessel and past Lundqvist's left pad with 10:10 remaining in the first. After the Rangers scored 45 seconds later to make it 2-1, the penguins answered right back when Phil Kessel took a snap shot from the right circle over Lundqvist's blocker for his third goal of the series and a 2-2 tie with 8:21. As the second period began, the Penguins got right back to where they left off. Forward Bryan Rust gave the Penguins their first lead, 3-2, 5:21into the second period when defenseman Trevor Daley sent a slap pass to him on the right of the New York net, allowing him to shoot past goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Matt Cullen extended the lead to 4-2 when he gathered a loose puck in the high slot and shot it by Lundqvist's glove 9:26 into the second period. Rookie forward Conor Sheary scored the Penguins' third goal (assisted by Rust) as well as the fourth goal of the period to push their lead to 6-2. As the third period begins, Rangers goalie Antti Raanta replaced Lundqvist and the Rangers managed to get one more goal, but it wasn't enough to extend the series. Pittsburgh will face either the Washington Capitals or the Philadelphia Flyers in the Second Round. Washington leads that best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 on Sunday.
As the Chicago Blackhawks face elimination tonight against the St. Louis Blues they look to steal a victory to keep this series alive, but they will be missing one of their star players due to suspension he received from game 4. The player that the Blackhawks will be missing is forward Andrew Shaw. Shaw was suspended one game by the NHL for the slur, fined $5,00 for directing an obscene gesture toward on-ice officials in the same game, and is required to undergo sensitivity training. Shaw said yesterday at a conference at O'Hare International Airport, "I want to apologize for my actions. I have no excuses for anything. I want to apologize to the gay and lesbian community. That's not the type of guy I am." He watched the video of the incident when he got home Tuesday and didn't like what he saw. He said, "It was hard to see. Emotions got the best of me and I didn't get any sleep last night. It was tough on me> You know, I'm upset with myself, obviously. I want to apologize to the organization, the NHL, my teammates, my family and my friends. I don't know; obviously I'm sorry. It's a tough time for me right now." The media asked him if he would ever use the slur again and he said, "I'll never use that word again, that's for sure. I do [understand]. I mean, I get it. It's a hurtful word. It's 2016 now. It's time that everyone is treated equally. It's a hurtful word, I know that. I'm serenade I want to apologize."Shaw has two goals and two assists in the series. His absence will leave a void on the Chicago forecheck and in front of the net during power plays."We're in a really tough spot," coach Joel Quenneville said about Shaw missing Game 5. "But I think that there's been some learning situations as we've progressed here [this season] and I think our group's had situations comparable in the past that we've had to learn from that make us better players and better people as well."Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said he hopes the situation will be used as an educational tool going forward."I think it's a moment to bring more attention to this sort of thing, especially pro sports," Toews said. "At the end of the day, I think it is a teachable moment for us to realize that going forward it has to be something that is scrutinized much more, something we think about much more and something that we're much more critical of ourselves, when it comes to these matters." The good thing is that he learned his lesson and he will become better hockey player role model both on and off the ice.
Going into today's game the Penguins were looking to put the Rangers in a 2-0 hole in the series but the Rangers decided to turn the tables on the Penguins. The Rangers won today by a score of 4-2 to make the series tied up at one all. Lot of people thought that Henrik Lundqvist wouldn't play today but they were wrong. Lundqvist had a great game stopping 29 shots out of 31 while Jeff Zatkoff stopped 24 shots out of 28. The game remained scoreless until they got into the second period and that's when the Rangers started lighting up the scoresheet. The first goal of the game didn't go to the Rangers but to the Penguins instead, Phil Kessel scored at 3:21 of the second period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead, Daley and Bonino were created with the assists. But the Rangers would storm back and score three unanswered goals to make it 3-1 Rangers. The goals were scored by Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard, and Mats Zuccarello. When the third period got underway, the Rangers put the pressure on and added another goal to extend their lead curtsy of Chris Kreider. Five minutes later the Penguins would respond to make it 4-2 on a goal by Phil Kessel and that was his second goal of the game. Bonino and Malkin got the assists on the goal. The Penguins kept putting the pressure on but the Rangers held their ground and came away with the victory. Game 3 is on Tuesday and this time the series shifts to New York at Madison Square Garden. Can the Penguins regroup from their loss and get back on the right track or will the Rangers take that victory as momentum for the next game. Let's cheer on your Penguins to victory on Tuesday. Go Pens!!!!!!!!!
Before game 1 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs started for the Pittsburgh Penguins, there were a lot of questions asked on how the team would do with out there star goalie Fleury and star forward Evgeni Malkin. Well they got a little help from their secondary players that help the Penguins to win 5-2 over the New York Rangers in game 1.This series between the Penguins and Rangers marks the third year in a row that these two faced each other with the Rangers winning the first two. The Penguins started goalie Jeff Zatkoff in net on Wednesday and this marked the first career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He went up against "The King" Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. Lundqvist had to leave during the game because he got poked in the right eye by his teammate Marc Staal. There wasn't any scoring until Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:42 of the first period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. When the second period got underway the Penguins kept the surge going by adding another goal by Sidney Crosby to make it 2-0. As the final period got underway the Rangers put the pressure on the Penguins and finally got on the board curtsy of Derek Staphan to cut the lead in half. But the Penguins would anwser back with two more goals curtsy of Kuhnhackl and Hornqvist for his second goal of the night. The Rangers would answer back with Stephan getting his second goal to make it 4-2. Hornqvist would seal the deal with an empty netter to make it 5-2 and to complete a hat trick for him. That game marked the first victory for Zatkoff in the playoffs. Can the Penguins pull off another victory to take a 2-0 series lead or will the Rangers steal the win to make the series even? Come on out tomorrow and cheer the Penguins to victory.
As the NHL regular season draws to a close, the 16 teams that made the playoffs are ready for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Philadelphia were hanging on to the second wild card position and they needed a win within the next two games to make the playoffs and they punched their ticket in today with a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins started off strong by scoring the first goal of the game by Nick Bonino. Hagelin and Kessel were credited with assists on the goal. The Flyers would answer back by getting a goal from Wayne Simmonds and then he would later score again to give the flyers the lead and his second goal of the game was the game winner. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored an empty net goal to seal the deal for the game and for the Flyers to make the playoffs. With that lost, the Pittsburgh Penguins ended their eight game winning streak. Pittsburgh will face either the New York Rangers or New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs, while the Philadelphia faces the regular season champions Washington Capitals. The playoffs begin on April 13th and it's time to cheer on the Pittsburgh Penguins as they look to capture their fourth Stanley Cup. Lets Go Penguins!!!!!!!!!
As the season draws to a close, the Penguins are debating on who should be the starting goalie for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As Marc-Andre Fleury is sidelined with a concussion, the Penguins had no problem with going to Matt Murray in goal for them. The Penguins are currently riding a eight game winning streak and in those eight games Murray has played in five of them including a 4-3 overtime win over the President Trophy champion Washington Capitals. In that game Matt Murray made a total of 27 saves. He got help with goals from Matt Cullen twice, Connor Sheary and Sidney Crosby who scored the game-winning goal with one minute left in overtime. That goal makes Crosby have a total of 36 goals and 49 assists in 81 games. The Penguins look to close the regular season on a high note with a victory tomorrow over their cross state rival the Philadelphia Flyers. Go Penguins!!!
Penguins rookie goaltender Matt Murray waiting for the puck to drop.
As the Penguins were heading into today's game they needed a victory to clinch a playoff spot. With the help of there goaltender and top scorers their mission was accomplished. The penguins beat the New York Islanders by a score of 5-0. This marks their tenth straight season where they clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins started rookie goalie Matt Murray today because Marc-Andre Fluery was out with a concussion after taking a shot to the head by Nashville Predators forward and former Penguin James Neal on Thursday. This marks Murray's first career shutout in the NHL. Penguins started off the game strong and got on the board very quick when Oskar Sunqvist picked up a turnover from the Islander's goalie and beat him on the glove side for a short-handed goal to make it 1-0 after one period. This marked his first career NHL goal but the Penguins were not done yet. They scored four more goals in the next two periods from Patric Hornqvist, Matt Cullen, Phil Kessel and Tom Kuhnhackl. With this victory it marked their fifth straight win and 11 of its past 12 games. Besides clinching a playoff spot today, there was a milestone set today as well. Sidney Crosby recorded his 600th NHL when he feed a one-timer to Hornqvist. That victory pushed the Penguins three points ahead of the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The next game for the Pittsburgh Penguins is tomorrow as they take on their cross state rival the Philadelphia Flyers at their last home game of the regular season. Come out to the game tomorrow and support your Penguins to victory. Lets Go Penguins!!!
For visitors to Houston this week, the Final Four and its ancillary events will largely look and feel like they did last year in Indianapolis. In this year's Final Four we have Oklahoma going up against Villanova while University of North Carolina will be facing Syracuse. My prediction is going to be North Carolina verses Oklahoma i the Championship game. The NCAA and its partners, Turner Sports and CBS Sports, have created a on-site formula that works for them and what the on-site formula is that they will have three days of concerts, a mega fan fest and a Texas-size tailgate on the day of the championship game. What this mean is that there will be little that qualifies as new or different on the ground. But that doesn’t mean things aren’t going to be bigger this year. Much of the growth in March Madness sponsor activation is coming from the digital and content side, where concerts are being simulcast and new sponsorship inventory is being created via the March Madness Live app and its new forms of distribution. For example, AT&T sponsors the Friday night concert at the Final Four (Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco), and for the first time the NCAA corporate champion plans to telecast it live across dedicated channels on DirecTV and U-verse. Also on the digital and social front, Allstate joined LG as a presenting sponsor of the NCAA’s Snapchat stories, which are new this year. This is big for many companies to be sponsors for the Final Four for March Madness.
For T.J. Oshie, scoring a hat trick in overtime in a Stanley CUp Playoff game was something he'd only dreamed about as a young boy. Oshie turned that dream into reality when he scored the game-winning goal at 9:33 into overtime to complete the hat trick and to give the Capitals a 4-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at The Verizon Center yesterday. "I haven't won too many championships in my lifetime," Oshie said. "Maybe through the youth years. That's kind of the stuff you dream about when you're a kid playing in the backyard by yourself is scoring the OT winner and getting a hat trick. It was awesome." Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on Saturday at 8 p.m. (ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) as the Capitals look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead while the Pittsburgh Penguins look to even the series at 1-1 before they head to Pittsburgh for games 3&4 at the Consol Energy Center. 
