Penguins Beat Capitals Again In Overtime–Blackhawks Stun Canucks With Road Win

Once again the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in an overtime thriller.  Evgeni Malikin scored 3:28 into overtime to break the 3-3 tie.  Sidney Crosby was held without a point for the first time since Game 5 of the Conference Quarterfinals and for just the second time in his last 15 playoff games.  Ovechkin got his ninth and 10th goals of the playoffs and recorded an assist for the Capitals.  He has six goals in the three games in Washington this series.  Ovechkin leads the NHL in postseason goals.  The Penguins became the first road team to win in the series, and the first to win after scoring first.  They also sustained the momentum from Friday night’s dominant 5-3 Game 4 victory.  Thanks to back-to-back games caused by a Yanni concert in Pittsburgh, the young Capitals came home with little time to regroup.  Game 6 is back in Pittsburgh on Monday and the Caps better figure out how to beat the Pens or their season will end that night.

Over in the Western Conference semi-final someone forgot to tell the young Chicago Blackhawks that their suppose to be nervous and playing tight and eventually lose to the more experienced Vancouver Canucks.  But that’s just not the case, Chicago has played this series with a lot of speed and toughness.  They beat the Canucks 4-2 for a solid road victory to take a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series.  The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 midway through the second period, but rallied to win for the third time in the series. They were led by their enforcer Dustin Byfuglien who scored Chicago’s first 2 goals.  David Bolland scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 5:05 left, and Martin Havlat added an empty-net goal with 62 seconds left.  They can advance to the Western Conference finals at home with a Game 6 win on Monday night.  Vancouver’s offence was led by Veteran forward Mat Sundin who had a goal and an assist in the game.