Sidney Crosby, who once scored in overtime to give the Olympics’ top prize to his native Canada, scored the first Stanley Cup playoffs overtime goal of his career at the 40 second mark, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a (3-2) victory vs the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 2 of their semi-final series.
That series is now tied at one game apiece with the venue shifting from Pittsburgh to Tampa for games three and four.
Pittsburgh ended a 5 game semi-finals losing streak and a 4 game playoffs home losing streak to the Lightning, as “T.B.” had won the last three road games at Pittsburgh in winning their 2011 quarterfinal series.
The Lightning’s 4 game road semi-finals winning streak also came to an end.
Normally gaining a split on the road is good but the Lightning lost a tough one in a bid to go up (2-0) and as I felt at the start of the series, will first gain then lose the home advantage.
Crosby’s OT winner gives Penguins 3-2 win in Game 2
Click above to view and hear Mr. Crosby’s overtime goal and other highlights with the excellent hockey announcer, Mike Emrick calling the action.
Please annoying media, do not make a big deal out of tonight’s game, nor the upcoming 3 game series between the defending National League champion, New York Mets and the Washington Nationals.
Likely, there will be good crowds at the Mets’ Citi Field and that is all well and good, but the season has not even reached the one quarter point.
Last year the Mets had lost a horrible game for them to the San Diego Padres just before the Nationals came to N.Y. for a three game weekend series in late July. Oh the doom and gloom surrounding the Mets via the hyping, “just have a story,” “feed the 24 hour news cycle,” media!
The Mets won all 3 games vs the Nationals and won the N.L. East fairly easily. It is a long season, one whose “tournament” includes the horrific wild cards and while each game counts and at least on paper, a team’s chances are better with a division title than a wild card berth, these games and maybe ones in the entire regular season, do not mean all that much.
The NHL Eastern Conference final series continues tonight in Pittsburgh as the Tampa Bay Lightning, holding a one game to none series lead visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh has lost 5 straight Eastern Conference/NHL semi-final games, having been swept by the Boston Bruins in the 2013 NHL Eastern Conference final.
Meanwhile the Lightning have won an astounding 4 straight road games in this round over the last two seasons. Last year they won games 2, 5, and 7 at New York’s Madison Square Garden vs the Rangers after dropping the series opener at that esteemed venue.
Tonight the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors begin their semi-final series at home vs the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“OKC” upset the San Antonio Spurs denying a series between 73 and 67 win teams. However this one between the 73 win, NBA record Warriors and the 56 win Thunder is no slouch.
I was surprised by the Thunder upsetting the Spurs and think they have a legitimate chance to topple the Warriors.
Here I go, but it is too bad that the 56 wins the Thunder achieved in the far tougher NBA West would not give them home advantage vs the very likely NBA East winners, the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose 57 wins were attained playing in the weaker NBA Eastern Conference.
Yesterday Kyle Lowry scored 35 points and DeMar DeRozan added 28, (both game SEVEN point totals are divisible by SEVEN, as if that is important), as the Toronto Raptors cruised to victory in game 7 of their quarterfinal series vs the Miami Heat. The series victory puts the Raptors, in their 21st season, into their first NBA semi-final series.
Next the Raptors will be heavy underdogs vs the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers. James is bidding to make his 6th straight finals appearance, the first four coming with the Heat. Miami dropped to (5-3) in quarterfinal series.
The Raptors are giving Toronto major North American sports league teams just their 5th semi-final appearance in 64 combined seasons since the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993.
Now the Raptors have the seemingly daunting task of giving Toronto their first finals appearance in those combined 64 seasons for the NHL Maple Leafs, Major League baseball Blue Jays and themselves.
The NHL Western Conference final/NHL semi-final series between the St. Louis Blues and San Jose sharks begins tonight in St. Louis.
St. Louis is roughly a 7 to 5 favorite in both tonight’s opening game and the series. They are in the “semis” for the first time since 2001 and just the third time (the other was 1986) since riding the obviously far weaker expansion NHL West to finals berth in each of their first three season (1968-1970), the only three in which that was possible.
Meanwhile the Sharks are (0-3) in semis, having appeared in them in 2006, 2010 and 2011. Typically, the ESPN.com preview of game 1 got those facts incorrect. See below:
“Both teams are strangers in recent years to deep playoff runs, and neither has won a Cup. San Jose, in the Western Conference final for the first time since 2005, took two of three during the season. ”
There was no NHL season in 2005 and “Jose’ made two semi-final appearances as I stated above after 2005.
Today in a game beginning at three thirty Eastern Time, the Toronto Raptors host the Miami Heat in the seventh and deciding game of their NBA quarterfinal series.
The Raptors are 4 point favorites in a bid to reach their first ever NBA semi-final series in this their 21st season. They lost in their only other quarterfinal series, in 7 games to the Philadelphia 76ers, the finale at Philadelphia on a Sunday afternoon in 2001.
Miami has won 5 straight quarterfinal series and the team has a (5-2) record in their quarterfinal series history. They split in 2 Sunday, 7th games/quarterfinal tilts, each in Miami vs the New York Knicks, rolling to victory in 1997 and losing a hard fought game in 2000.
Toronto is seeking just its third playoff series win. Since the Blue Jays repeated as World Series champions in 1993, the three major North American sports league teams from Toronto have made just 4 semi-final appearances in their sport in a combined 63 completed seasons, three by the NHL Maple Leafs and last year’s ALCS loss by the Blue Jays.
No Toronto team has made its league’s final series in those 66 combined completed seasons since Joe Carter’s incredibly dramatic, 3 run homer gave the Jays their repeat title in October of 1993.
Both Miami, with the Marlins and Toronto with the Blue Jays are (2-0) in World Series play, leaving them tied for the best World Series win percentage, however with just two W.S. appearances, it pales in comparison to some other team’s World Series records, most notably the New York Yankees’ (27-13) mark in the Fall Classic.
Last night Antenna T.V. aired a phenomenal Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, who was back from a vacation that took him to among other events, the great Bjorn Borg 5 set victory vs John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon Men’s (Tennis) Final.
Rodney Dangerfield was one of the guests and using his famed gyrations and incredible non stop, “bang bang” arsenal of jokes, often regarding his “getting no respect,” showed why all these years later, he is more than “respected,” as he ranks in the pantheon of great comedians.
After his stand up routine, Mr. Dangerfield sat with Johnny and Ed McMahon (watching again I have gained great respect, there is that word again, for Mr. McMahon’s contribution to the great show) and with Johnny setting him up, barely took a breath, with more non stop comedy.
I believe Rodney finally went down a notch in tone from his frenetic pace, saying “Caddyshack” as a clip from the 1980 movie was shown. It is great seeing the Carson Tonight Shows particularly so with Rodney Dangerfield, in one that aired last night.
On the 1980 Carson Tonight Show, that aired last night on Antenna T.V, Mr. Dangerfield pictured above, talked about his then new comedy album, “No Respect.”
Rather than rage at the all powerful commissioners of the 4 major North American Sports leagues, especially Roger Goodell of Bronxville, New York, I choose to write about a baseball player named Ollie Brown and recall the great announcer, Harry Kalas’ call of “Downtown’s” game winning home run in 1975.
Once, I would listen to the out of town sports on great radio stations such as WCAU in Philadelphia. They aired a wrap up show that included play by play highlights, one of the first programs to do so.
In 1975, the NHL Flyers were on their way to their second straight Stanley Cup crown and last to date. The show aired highlights of their game 2 finals win vs the Buffalo Sabres.
Next they aired highlights of the Phillies’ doubleheader win vs the great Cincinnati Reds, who would soon get very hot and win 108 games en route to the title.
Kalas’ call of Ollie “Downtown” Brown’s game winning homer in the opening game of that doubleheader was awesome. It is not sacrilege for me to say Kalas was far better doing game play by play than Vin Scully, something few if any in the “Scully is G-d” media would dare say. Scully is great,however.
Not so baseball czar, Rob Manfred, as Pete Rose is still not in the Baseball Hall. What brings that up, other than it is an injustice that haunts me as a once baseball lover?
That aforementioned Reds’ hot streak began when unselfish Pete Rose moved from left field to third base enabling the great slugger George Foster to get into the Reds’ lineup.
The Tampa Bay Lightning scored the game’s first three goals and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in their NHL semi-final opener.
Tampa Bay (2-1) in previous semi-final series, advanced to the NHL finals last season but lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in 6 games.
Last year the Lightning, who have opened 3 of their 4 “semis” on the road lost game 1 but won the series in 7 games vs the New York Rangers.
The previous 3 Lightning semi-final series went the maximum 7 games. The Lightning with home ice advantage won in 7 vs the Philadelphia Flyers in 2004 and then beat the Calgary Flames at home in game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.
In 2011, the Boston Bruins won game 7 of the “semis” at home vs the Lighning before winning game 7 of the finals at Vancouver, vs the Canucks to win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.
Andy B Sports 