Washington's OT win caps bizarre night of action on the ice
WASHINGTON --- The Washington Capitals had already celebrated their Game 1 overtime victory and the ice crew cleaned up all the hats tossed in honor of T.J. Oshie’s first career playoff hat trick before jubilation turned to anxiety at Verizon Center on Thursday night..
It took about four minutes for the NHL’s situation room in Toronto to confirm that Oshie’s wraparound attempt indeed crossed the goal line to secure the Caps' 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the second-round series.
The review was just one of many odd happenings at Verizon Center:
Wilson knees Sheary
Caps forward Tom Wilson, who led the Caps in penalty minutes in the regular season, looked to have taken a cheap shot against Pens winger Conor Sheary.
Wilson was skating to the bench for a change when he went knee-on-knee with Sheary, who fell to the ice. He remained in the game. No penalty was called.
“I didn't get an explanation and I'm not concerned,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said, “We're just going to play. We're just going to play hockey. The refs are going to call it the way they see it and our guys are going to play."
Kunitz hit with puck on bench, forced out
Penguins winger Chris Kunitz was hit in the side of the head by the puck as he sat on the bench in the opening seconds of overtime. He went to the locker room and did not return.
“I haven’t spoken to our medical staff, but, yes, you are correct. He got hit with the puck,” Sullivan said.
No captains needed
The Capitals-Penguins rivalry is frequently boiled down to Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby.
But the two stars combined for all of one point in Game 1, an assist by Ovechkin on one of Oshie’s goals.
Ovechkin was a plus-3, but had only three shots on net. Crosby was a minus-3 and managed just one shot on goal.
Game 2 is on Saturday and the last time these two teams played in a Game 2 (2009), both Ovechkin and Crosby had hat tricks.
Beagle finds a stick (or two)
Capitals forward Jay Beagle had the stick of Pens defenseman Kris Letang caught in his visor.
No penalty was called on the play. Later in the game, the stick of Phil Kessel became wedged in Beagle’s skate, which did result in a tripping penalty.
