Your one-round-down breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on the clincher from us, Vogs, Monumental video (Trotz, Holtby, Backstrom, Alzner, Oshie, Johansson, Williams,
Niskanen), NHL.com (and again), ESPN (and again), AP, Reuters, AFP, THN,
Puck Daddy, WaPo (and Best/Worst), CSNMA (gamer, blog), NBC4, WashTimes, Frankovic, Peerless, FiCP, RMNB (and again), NoVa Caps, THW, Pressbox DC, StarsandSticks, and from up on Broad Street, CSN Philly, Philly.com, and our awesome friends over at BSH.- They say defense wins championships. For now, it played a big role in the Caps winning Game 6 (and the series). [WaPo]
- The officiating in this one was… let’s go with questionable. [RMNB, NoVa Caps]
- That resulted in a two-man advantage for each team, both of which were fruitless, but the Flyers‘ lack of power-play goals ultimately proved to be more costly. [NHL.com, CSN Philly, Philly.com]
- It was a tense couple of minutes for wrongly accused Nicklas Backstrom, but he made up for it by scoring the only goal the Caps would need. [WashTimes]
- When Nicky did score, one particular bar in New York City was watching, and broke out in a delightful chant. Glory, glory, indeed! [NYC Caps Crew]
- One thing that wasn’t penalized? The hit by Brayden Schenn (shocker!) that briefly sent T.J. Oshie back to the room. [WaPo, CSNMA, Puck Daddy]
- He may not have scored in every game, but Alex Ovechkin made his presence felt against the Flyers. [Philly.com]
- Flyers fans had some parting words for Ovechkin. No, not that kind; the supportive kind. [CSNMA]
- Five key stats that explain how the Caps got by the Flyers. [CSNMA]
- The Flyers’ big trio was pretty well silenced during this series, including captain Claude Giroux, who had just one assist in the six games. [CSNMA, Philly.com]
- Of course, we all know the real reason the Caps won: they have adorable children. [RMNB]
- Handshakes! [Rink]
- Bad penalties, hot goalies… yes, we’ve seen this movie before. But this time – and this team – is different. [WaPo, CSNMA]
- The second line in general, and Evgeny Kuznetsov in particular, were pretty quiet in the first round. Don’t you worry about #92, though. [FiCP]
- Okay, so… who’s ready for Pittsburgh? [Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review, Pensburgh]
- Breaking down the season in head-to-head matchups. [Rink, Post-Gazette]
- Not-so-fun fact: Home ice hasn’t been such an advantage for home teams so far in the postseason. [Tribune-Review]
- You may be tired of, or roll your eyes at, the Crosby-Ovechkin narrative, but there’s no denying it will once again be the central focus of this series. [Globe and Mail, CBC, Sportsnet]
- Chasing those damn ghosts. [TSN]
- Some pregame notes. [Dump ‘n Chase, Monumental video (Trotz)]
- Caps’ goalie prospect Ilya Samsonov helped Metallurg win the KHL’s Gagarin Cup, and he did it while playing through injury. [KHL]