The Pittsburgh Penguins forward scored two overtime winners - including the series clincher - against the Washington Capitals in the second round, and the calls by Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi must be heard.
Flames general manager Brad Treliving is serving as Canada's GM at the ongoing World Championship in Russia, and Yeo is one of the squad's assistant coaches.
It's hard to believe that although Washington held Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby to two assists and all-world center Evgeni Malkin to a goal and assist in the second round, the Capitals are still done in six games.
Pittsburgh's Carl Hagelin (seven points), Phil Kessel (six points), and Nick Bonino (five points, including two overtime winners) stepped up and did the damage offensively. For Washington, its best players were that: Alex Ovechkin had seven points, T.J. Oshie scored five goals and added a helper, and Justin Williams had five points.
Going into this series between two evenly matched teams, the Capitals surely thought they had one significant edge: in goal. Braden Holtby, the presumptive Vezina Trophy winner, against Matt Murray, the rookie.
But if you look at the numbers, Murray went save for save with Holtby, finishing with a higher save percentage in six games, and winning two of the three that went to extra time.
Braden Holtby
Statistic
Matt Murray
.923
SV%
.926
16
Goals Against
15
209
Shots Against
202
193
Saves
187
The shots were about even. Murray was better. He's playing like he's done this whole Stanley Cup Playoffs thing before. And he'll be in the crease for Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has to be.
Justin Williams knows a thing or two about big moments in the playoffs.
The man known as "Mr. Game 7" was brought to Washington to get the Capitals over the hump. But here they are, once again, the class of the regular season and out after the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ousted in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins are a phenomenal team, make no mistake, and they're peaking at the right time. And in Williams' view, they were the side that did what had to be done when it needed to be done.
"We didn't own the big moments," Williams said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "The margin of error is very small in this league, and they owned the big one (Tuesday night)."
Nick Bonino owned it. He scored the overtime winner to end the Capitals' season.
Williams stuck up for his captain, Alex Ovechkin, who is going to receive the brunt of criticism for another spring failure. But Williams knows the playoffs are about far more than one player.
"It's about us as a team not being quite good enough."
Not when it mattered, at least. The worst part of it all: Williams didn't even get to play in a Game 7 with the Capitals.
Maybe next year - the words every Washington hockey fan is probably sick to death of hearing.
Those arguing Ovechkin can't win the Stanley Cup gained more fuel for their narrative after the Capitals were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of their second-round series Tuesday night, but he's hardly to blame for the latest disappointment.
"He did all the right things. He said all the right things. This certainly isn't on him," Capitals forward Justin Williams said postgame, according to Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski.
"It's about us as a team, obviously not … quite … being good enough."
Ovechkin notched a point per game in his 12 playoff contests this spring, including two goals and five assists against the Penguins.
The captain's 62 shots on goal led all playoff skaters - good for 13 more than the next closest player (teammate John Carlson) and eclipsing third-ranked Vladimir Tarasenko by 17, even though the St. Louis Blues sniper has played one more game.
Ovechkin squandered several opportunities to score in Game 6, but still finished with a pair of helpers, six shots, and more than 27 minutes of ice time.
Certainly, he could have converted on more of his chances, but he still finished tied for fourth in both playoff goals and points.
He posted favorable possession numbers in all but three of the 12 postseason contests, according to War-On-Ice, and finished with an even-strength Corsi For rating of 57.4 in the playoffs, per Corsica Hockey.
The Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best regular-season record, boast the consensus Vezina Trophy favorite in Braden Holtby, and might have more depth than they've ever had. Still, they failed to emerge from the conference semifinal for the second straight season.
"We lost in the second round. It sucks," Ovechkin said Tuesday night.
"Every year, (there are) lots of expectations. Lots of great players. There's something we're missing. This group of guys can do better. Can go farther than the second round. I think we have the best goalie in the league. All four lines can play well. We just didn't execute when we had a chance to put the puck in the net."
The Capitals qualified for the playoffs in eight of the last nine years, but Washington hasn't advanced past the second round since losing in the Stanley Cup Final in 1998.
Despite that, Ovechkin has 82 points (41 goals and 41 assists) in 84 career postseason games.
Whatever ingredient is missing, it doesn't appear to be the captain.
A spot in the Western Conference final will be on the line in Dallas on Wednesday, as the Stars host the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of an up-and-down, second-round series for both clubs.
The Stars and Blues were separated by two points in the regular-season standings, with Dallas earning the right to host a deciding Game 7.
How they got here
Round 1
Blues defeat Blackhawks in 7
Stars defeat Wild in 6
Round 2
Game
Result
1
Stars win 2-1
2
Blues win 4-3 (OT)
3
Blues win 6-1
4
Stars win 3-2 (OT)
5
Blues win 4-1
6
Stars win 3-2
Here are three reasons why the road team will prevail.
Blues hold advantage in shots, goals
While this series can be parsed any which way, the simple fact is the Blues have the advantage in both shots and goals through six games.
Team
Shots
Goals
Blues
181
19
Stars
172
13
All three of the Stars wins have been by a margin of one goal, and two came courtesy of sudden death overtime, which is essentially a coin flip. On the flip side, the Blues have won big in two of the contests, taking Games 3 and 5 - both played in Dallas - by a combined score of 10-2.
Clearly St. Louis isn't intimidated by American Airlines Center, and the Blues have the added advantage of having conquered the defending Stanley Cup champions in a Game 7 in the opening round, albeit on home ice.
Elliott out for redemption
Brian Elliott was given the hook after giving up three goals on seven shots in Game 6, but overall, his playoff performance to date has been solid.
The 31-year-old has started all 13 games for the Blues this postseason, allowing 31 goals while stopping 92.6 percent of shots faced, ranking him fourth among all remaining goaltenders.
At the other end of the ice, the Stars duo of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen has combined for a save percentage of .893, a number that should not inspire confidence, despite a strong outing by the latter in Game 6.
Elliott allowed five goals in a Game 6 loss to Chicago, but rebounded with a 31-save performance in a 3-2 win in Game 7. Head coach Ken Hitchcock hasn't confirmed his Game 7 starter, but Blues' players said they'd be surprised if it isn't Elliott, and, quite frankly, with good reason.
Fallen Star
Based on how well Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza have been playing, it might be easy to overlook the fact Tyler Seguin has been limited to 12:21 of ice time during the postseason due to injury.
To their credit, the Stars have come a long way without the services of their top young center, although the argument can be made they did so while avoiding the true powerhouses of the Western Conference, tossed aside by other opponents.
The reality is it would be far easier to reach for the Stars in Game 7 if their lineup featured a player who recorded 33 goals and 73 points in 72 regular-season games.
Take a poll and hockey fans would likely be surprised to hear the Stars are one win away from the third round sans Seguin, and with good reason. Chances are they won't indeed get that far without him.
Possible offseason moves by the Capitals and Travis Hamonic withdraws his trade request are the big topics in today’s NHL rumor mill. What next for the Capitals? ESPN.COM: In the immediate aftermath of the Washington Capitals playoff elimination, Craig Custance advises management not to overreact by blowing up the roster following yet another early […]
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The Penguins eliminating the Capitals tops this morning’s list of notable NHL headlines. NHL Playoff Recaps and News. TRIBLIVE.COM/THE WASHINGTON POST: Nick Bonino’s overtime goal gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals, eliminating the latter from the playoffs in six games. Phil Kessel scored twice as the Pens jumped to a […]
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