NHL Goes into Overtime

By Matt Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff


There were two games last night on the docket, Caps vs. Pens and B's vs. Canes. Both games did not disappoint this hockey fan (other than the Bruins losing). Each had great goaltending, back and forth offensive pressure, and an exciting sudden death period.

Let's skip to the third period in both.

Evgeni Malkin, who looked to be the best player on the ice, gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead with 4:59 to play in regulation with a goal. After taking a pass from Sidney Crosby, Malkin brought the puck between the circles and fired a laser-like wrister that went high over Simeon Varlamov's stick and in. At 17:32 into the third the Caps went on the powerplay. Alexander Semin, with the puck near in the left circle, waited opportunisticly before taking a shot that Ovechkin tipped. Fleury made the save, but the puck bounced to his right and Nicklas Backstrom, standing on the goal line, was able to bang it in off of the goalie's backside to take it to Overtime.

Boston's Mark Recchi, a key member of the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup championship team in 2006, tied it with just under 11 minutes left in regulation when he scored on a deflection, redirecting a Chuck Kobasew's shot from the wing past Ward to make it 2-all. Thomas kept it tied by withstanding an onslaught by the Hurricanes, who had a 38-19 shots advantage before overtime.

Overtime

In overtime Pittsburgh had huge pressure on the Caps young goalie Varamov. Eventually that pressure led to a facoff in the Caps zone, 11:23 in to the extra session. Crosby cleanly won the right-circle draw back to Mark Eaton at the blue line. Eaton slid a pass to his left for Kris Letang, who left Game 2 in the third period with an undisclosed injury nad was questionable for game 3, blasted a one-timer that ricocheted off Caps' defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and whizzed past Varamov.

Instead of playing for their playoff lives on Friday night, the Penguins can even the best-of-7 series by winning Game 4 at home.

Carolina won the game on its first rush of the OT, but not before Cam Ward was his remarkable self, stopping Milan Lucic on a breakaway 53 seconds into sudden death, and turning aside three other quality chances. Sergei Samsonov's centering pass against his old club found Jussi Jokinen in front of Tim Thomas, who was solid in the Boston net under Carolina’s constant siege all night. Jokinen, in the crease, pounded away until the puck slipped past the goal line 2:48 into overtime.

The Canes outplayed Boston in almost every facet of the game, outshooting the Bruins 41-23 while winning most of the one-on-one battles that can turn a playoff game in an instant – or a series for that matter. Do I smell another Cinderella story or can the Bruins take back the series on Friday night?