The Penguins are eight victories away from becoming the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), from Russian Federation, is taken to the ice by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin (8) during the second period of Game 7 in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference semifinal, Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Washington. Methot is focused on helping the Senators beat the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final, but knows much will be made of a Sidney Crosby slash that left the Senators defenceman with a lacerated finger. Washington went up 3-1, then saw its best season ever come undone at the hand of unheralded Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
Moving Rust back to the top line paid off when he gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 11:11 mark of the second period. The two-time Presidents' Trophy winners might not have a better chance to win a Stanley Cup and that made the loss even more bitter.
It's probably generous to say that the Penguins won four of the 23 or 24 periods (or however many) in the entire series.
This series, beginning Saturday night in Pittsburgh, is the fifth between the teams.
After Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Penguins in Game 7 of the second round, some players spoke of the current roster in the past tense. They traded a first-round pick to acquire Kevin Shattenkirk from the St. Louis Blues in February and sent two second-round picks to the Montreal Canadiens for Lars Eller last June. Senators forward Viktor Stalberg suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 6 against the Rangers and played less than seven minutes. Their defense corps, led by Shea Theodore (two goals, five assists) and Cam Fowler (one goal, four assists) is able get the puck out of their zone quickly and join the rush.
Brock Nelson scored twice as the United States cruised to its third win of the ice hockey world championship with a 3-0 defeat of Italy.
Red Sox beat Brewers on Betts' homer in ninth
Betts' three-run home run in the ninth inning Thursday lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. His counterpart, Jimmy Nelson, struck out eight, allowed four hits and an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings.
"We didn't lose the series tonight", Washington center Nicklas Backstrom said.
Nashville eliminated Chicago in four games and St. Louis in six games. And when faced with a one-goal deficit, the Capitals just shut down in the third period instead of showing up.
Ovechkin said after that game he was not anxious about his knee and "just needed a little break". "Whether you've got the upper hand or not it's just really tough to get the four games so there's always a chance". On the backend, Orlov, 25, grew into his top-4 role and played solidly, while Schmidt, 25, enjoyed a strong postseason, posting a team-best +6 rating.
"It's just extreme disappointment", Alzner told the Washington Post. Later in the period, Daniel Winnik broke in alone on Fleury but fired wide. Connolly, 25, had a career-year for goals, but couldn't get on the ice early in the season and didn't see much run in the postseason, either. "They did a few things in terms of their puck management", Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "We found out a lot about people in a good way".
The Ducks tied the game 8:55 into the second period. Jake Guentzel delayed, drifting toward the left side of the net with the puck before dishing it off to Rust in the slot. Evgeni Malkin has been stepping in, though, now leading the playoffs in scoring with 18 points in 12 games.
Ovechkin never let on that he was playing hurt.
Blow up the Capitals, talk about how they can't get by the second round, make Ovechkin walk the plank, and pay a panel of so-called-experts to preview the comment section of my blog live on TV! After Game 7, Trotz didn't want to discuss Ovechkin's performance in the series, saying, "emotionally I don't want to answer that question right now".
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