PITTSBURGH, Pa – When the Pittsburgh Penguins made headlines in the offseason by making a trade for Phil Kessel, Pens fans and hockey experts alike wondered aloud if Kessel might be that final piece of the Penguins puzzle to a Stanley Cup.
At least for one night, no one was second guessing the Kessel trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kessel scored two goals and Nick Bonino scored the game winner in overtime for a thrilling 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals sending the Pens to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Caps home empty handed once again to the Pens in the two rivals storied playoff history.
“It’s the best feeling in the game right there, to win a series and have your teammates around you,” Bonino said. “I can’t put it into words right now. I still have chills, a little bit.”
Carl Hagelin also scored for Pittsburgh and goaltender Matt Murray made 30 saves on 31 shots. Justin Williams, TJ Oshie, and John Carlson scored for Washington and Braden Holtby made 35 saves on 37 shots.
Kessel’s first goal is one Holtby would love to have back as Kessel was low short side and his second was when he cut in front of Holtby and wrapped a shot past him. Hagelin deflected a shot from the point for his high up the left wing above the face-off circle and shot high past Holtby for a 3-0 lead.
The Caps came back from the three goal deficit in part due to the fact that the Pens took three straight delay of game penalties to tie the game at 3-3. Bonino scored the game winner as Hagelin took a shot that Holtby made the save on but with Bonino parked in front of the to slam home the rebound for the game winner.
“It’s a missed opportunity and another game that’s the last shot,” Alex Ovechkin said. “I’m proud of my team, proud of my teammates. I’m proud of this group no matter what happened, but, again, we lost in the second round, so it [stinks].”
The game was almost won sooner in OT when Trevor Daley made three straight attempts at the Caps net but his last shot got to the goal line but Jay Beagle kept it out of the Caps net even if it was temporary.
“I’ve never seen it (resiliency) in all the years I’ve been around the game, I’ll tell you that,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan said. “Three delay of game penalties right in a row like that. That’s a tough one to swallow, you know? And I thought our guys battled hard through it.”
This will be four times the Penguins will have reached the conference finals in the Sidney Crosby era.
“[Pittsburgh is] a super hockey team,” Caps coach Barry Trotz said. “It was a good series and I wish them all the best going forward. I think they did a terrific job down the stretch being the hottest team in the National Hockey League and that carried over into the playoffs. I think they have a shot at it.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.