Three straight overtime finishes to start the postseason? No problem.
That’s what the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals were saying after Tuesday night’s double- OT game Authentic Will Dissly Jersey , one that finally ended when the puck pinballed around the front of the net, hitting Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and the Capitals’ Lars Eller before squirting past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
”Real ugly” was how Eller put it afterward.
But it was a win, one that Washington badly needed after losing two straight overtime games at home. The Capitals needed 89 minutes to win Game 3, the longest game in Blue Jackets history and one played in front of the largest hockey crowd ever at Nationwide Arena.
Of the first 26 games of the NHL playoffs, there have been four overtime games in all, with three of them in this series (Vegas and Los Angeles also had a double OT game during the Golden Knights‘ sweep). It is the sixth time in playoff history that the first three games of a series went to OT.
Care to make it four?
The two teams go at it again on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. EDT, USA) with Columbus looking to take a 3-1 lead. Despite the extra hockey and nail-biting drama, nobody is feeling the burn. At least not that they’re saying.
”I didn’t see any guys dying out there,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. ”I think we’re in really good condition for this time of year. I don’t think any guys worried about that.”
Washington coach Barry Trotz said his team is accustomed to managing overtime games and then coming back. It all builds character, he said.
”The playoffs are a test of will, even if it’s not overtime,” he said. ”What I think overtime makes you do is concentrate when you’re tired. You have to be in that moment. You can’t cut that corners, you can’t do that fly-by when you’re really tired, you can’t cheat because those are the times the puck ends up in the back of your net.”
Columbus coach John Tortorella said he thinks his guys are fine.
”I’ll tell you right now Ronald Jones II Buccaneers Jersey , if we’re fatigued three games in, holy crap,” he said. ”We’re just starting. It was a long game last night and we’ve had some overtime games, but that’s all part of it. You just can’t be tired. I don’t even think you can start talking about fatigue until you’re in a couple of rounds from now.”
POWER LINE
After recording 20 points in the first two games against the Maple Leafs, the Boston line of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron was held scoreless in Game 3. The Bruins are counting on their production to return for Game 4 in Toronto on Thursday night.
”I thought our top line was fine for the most part, they just didn’t finish,” coach Bruce Cassidy said after the 4-2 loss that cut Boston’s lead in the series to 2-1. ”They (the Maple Leafs) were determined to keep them off the score sheet, and they did.”
While the Leafs had bad luck in the first two games – though that wasn’t their only problem, as the combined 12-4 score could attest – in Game 3 it was Pastrnak who hit the post on one shot and then Toronto’s Frederik Andersen made great saves on two others, first with his glove and then with his stick.
After two games, four Bruins led the NHL in postseason scoring – Pastrnak (4 goals, 5 assists), Marchand (1 Authentic Sebastian Janikowski Jersey , 5), Bergeron (0, 5), plus defenseman Torey Krug (0, 5). Pastrnak’s nine points still led the league heading into Wednesday night’s games.
ABOUT THAT CALL
Cassidy took issue with a penalty call he says NHL officials made on a hunch in a 4-2 loss to Toronto in Game 3.
Bruins forward Riley Nash was handed a delay of game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass on Monday. But the puck touched the glass before entering the crowd, which would negate the minor penalty, and officials missed it. Nash was sent to the box at 16:58 of the first period.
Seven seconds later, James van Riemsdyk scored to put Toronto ahead 1-0. It was the first time in the series the Leafs scored first.
Cassidy, whose team leads the series 2-1, spoke to the officials at the beginning of the second period and wanted to know who of the four (two referees, two linesmen) decided to give Nash the two-minute penalty.
”My question was: who made the call? There’s no call immediately,” he said. ”When a referee makes a call you kind of live with it because it’s decisive. So now they get together and I assume they want to make the right call, that’s the idea, but to me they got together and clearly they guessed because it hit the glass and we saw that. I think you’re kind of innocent until proven guilty.”
AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.
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DENVER BRONCOS (5-11)
OPEN CAMP: July 27, Englewood, Colorado
LAST YEAR: Coach Vance Joseph's first year was debacle in every phase. Denver's anemic offense cycled through three QBs during soured season that included eight-game skid, franchise's longest in half-century, and featured eight double-digit losses. Exhausted defense surrendered too many points and special teams were anything but. GM John Elway thought about firing Joseph but decided to give him second chance and then bolstered roster.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONS: QB Case Keenum, DE Bradley Chubb, RB Royce Freeman, WR Courtland Sutton, WR DeSean Hamilton, RT Jared Veldheer, LB Josey Jewell, CB Brock Tramaine, S Su'a Cravens, P Marquette King Ed Dickson Jersey Elite , part-time pass-rushing coach DeMarcus Ware.
IMPORTANT LOSSES: CB Aqib Talib, QB Trevor Siemian, RB C.J. Anderson, TE Virgil Green, WR Cody Latimer, ILB Corey Nelson, QB Brock Osweiler, strength and conditioning coach Luke Richesson.
CAMP NEEDS: Broncos need Keenum to stay healthy first and foremost because behind him are two players who have combined four NFL starts, all by Paxton Lynch. Former first-round pick will be duking it out with 2017 seventh-rounder Chad Kelly for backup job in toned-down version of QB derby that's been annual rite of summer in Denver since Peyton Manning retired.
EXPECTATIONS: Broncos haven't had back-to-back losing seasons since 1971-72, and they have every intention of returning to playoffs in 2018. Having Chubb as cohort should make superstar LB Von Miller even better, and Denver's infusion of offensive talent through draft and free agency should take some pressure off defense that's been carrying team for three years now.