Your savory breakfast links:
- And now it is on to Game Six at Consol Energy Center:
- The gear bags are ticketed to Pittsburgh, not Moscow or Manitoba or Minneapolis. [SI.com]
- There’s a certain quiet confidence as well. [WaPo (and again), ESPN]
- No looking back, even to Game Five. Barry Trotz has his squad concentrating on one thing only – their next game. [NHL.com, TVA]
- But it wouldn’t hurt to remember that they earned that Presidents’ Trophy. By being a really good hockey team. [WashTimes]
- “Trust. Determination. Resiliency.” [NoVa Caps Fans]
- Brooks Orpik is set to return, and the team is happy to have its Batya back. [CSNMA]
- Three things we were talking about yesterday, including a return to scoring on the power play, Holtby’s tremendous saves, and not going home for the summer. [Rink]
- A few leftovers from the Game Five victory. [Dump ‘n Chase, Pensblog, Pittsburgh Postgame]
- The Game Five television ratings were excellent – post-Derby eyeballs FTW. [PHT]
- What worked, what didn’t. [Peerless]
- By the numbers. [RMNB]
- With a 30-save performance, there was only one choice for Bae Of The Game. [NYC Caps Crew]
- Brian Dumoulin‘s terrible horrible no-good very bad turnover. [PensBurgh]
- Alex Ovechkin – magnificent. [Sportsnet, Sporting News]
- Braden Holtby – magnificent… [WashTimes, WaPo, ESPN, CSNMA, theScore]
- … with an assist from his goalie guru, Mitch Korn. [ESPN]
- Justin Williams – bringing “it” when it matters. [Sportsnet, PHT, WaPo]
- Coach was pleased with his rearranged forward lines. [WaPo]
- And congrats to Gert Friedman, who attended her very first hockey game in celebration of her 101st birthday. To make the day extra special, the Caps gave her the best seat in the house – riding shotgun on the Olympia ice resurfacer. [Monumental (video), THN, Puck Daddy]
- Looking ahead to Game Six, Caps-eye view:
- Coach Trotz knows his team has more to give. [NHL.com]
- For example, it would be great if Evgeny Kuznetsov gets going. [CSNMA]
- Nicklas Backstrom is feeling all kinds of defensive. [WaPo]
- The Caps will be prepared if there is a change in net for Pittsburgh. [CBS DC]
- Looking ahead to Game Six, Pens-eye view:
- Point – Matt Murray has got the Pens this far. Despite the Game Five result, it’s still his net to lose. [Sun Media, Sportsnet]
- Counterpoint – Are you kidding me? Marc-Andre Fleury is ready to go. Put him in. [TribLive, USA Today]
- The seed of doubt has been planted. [CSNMA, PHT, TSN, NHL.com]
Fleury or Murray?
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) May 8, 2016
- Calling out the Pens’ superstar forwards. [TribLive, BCT]
- You guys, you might want to think about containing Ovechkin… [NHL.com]
- … and getting pucks on net… [PPG]
- … and developing a sense of urgency. [ESPN (video)]
- Longtime Rink readers may recall that Evgeny Kuznetsov sustained injuries once or twice while playing for his KHL team and was sent to Germany for treatment. Here, as Paul Harvey might say, is the rest of the story. [Hockey’s Future]
- Finally, happy 66th birthday to Steve Self, and happy 50th to Mark Tinordi.