miaowang123: directly to Wednesdays final

directly to Wednesdays final

27 Feb 2018 at 22:14

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the dressing room after Brandon ;Dubinskys late goal forced overtime, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno half-jokingly said hed get the winner. Nolan Carroll Jersey . Then he did it. Dubinsky scored with 22.5 seconds left in regulation and Folignos wrist shot just inside the blue line 2:49 into the extra session -- from right over the top of the Stanley Cup painted under the ice -- gave the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Asked if he had called the goal, Foligno laughed. "I might have," he said with a wide grin. "I didnt actually think it would work out, but it ended up working. Im going to thank my lucky stars." The Blue Jackets overcame a 3-0 deficit for their first home playoff victory in the franchises 13 seasons, sending the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Saturday night tied 2-2. The defeat left the Penguins, who had rolled over Columbus in all five meetings during the regular season, stunned. "We lost the game, its 2-2 now and we have to have a response from our whole group," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. Craig Adams, Chris Kunitz and James Neal scored in a 5:01 span in the first period to stake the Penguins to a three-goal lead and briefly silence the rowdy crowd of 18,970. But the Blue Jackets, unlike prior teams that had made the franchise a laughing stock by piling up defeats and failing in big games, kept coming. Rookie Boone Jenner scored on a 5-on-3 power play to cut it to 3-1. That was an ominous sign for the Penguins. In the three previous games of the series, a team had scored first on the way to a 3-1 lead -- and then lost the game. This one was no different. Ryan Johansen, who would star on Dubinskys tying shot, then tapped in a goal, also with a man advantage, to make it 3-2 through two periods. It stayed that way, both Marc-Andre Fleury of Pittsburgh and Columbus Sergei Bobrovsky trading big saves, until the final minute. As brilliant as he had been at times, Fleury was the culprit. Without really having to, he elected to go to the back wall to handle Jack Johnsons pass around the boards. He whiffed trying to handle the puck, it hopping over his stick, and he was left out of position. Johansen was there to saucer a quick backhanded pass through the crease where Dubinsky netted it with 22.5 seconds left. "We just dumped it in and went to work," said Dubinsky, acquired in the blockbuster deal that shipped captain and franchise hallmark Rick Nash to the New York Rangers two years ago. "It was a Columbus goal. We forechecked them hard, Joe threw it out front to me. I dont know what happened with Fleury, but a couple of guys went down and I shot through them and it went into the net." That touched off a wild celebration, with dancing in the aisles and the loudest sound heard in the Blue Jackets mostly dismal 13 seasons -- well, for at least a few minutes. Meanwhile Dubinsky slid on one knee on the ice before being mobbed by his teammates. In the overtime, the Blue Jackets had the best of it -- as they had for all but the start. Foligno carried the puck through the neutral zone and was 12 feet across the blue line when he fired a low wrister that he tucked under Fleurys glove. As the players piled on top of Foligno, the crowd went crazy again. "The fans were outstanding," Foligno said. "When we were down 3-0, they stuck with us and they kept cheering us on. And it really gave us a lot of momentum throughout the game." Fleury finished with 42 saves but had no explanation for what happened on the tying goal. "They dumped it in and I thought I would stop it for my (defence)," he said. "I dont know, it just bounced over my stick and went right to their guy (Johansen). And he put it right in front." Penguins captain Sidney Crosby defended his goalie. "I didnt get a good look but, you know what, I trust Marc," he said. "For a puck to come out like that, Im sure it had to take a bounce or some kind of a weird hop." Bylsma also blamed a funny bounce. "It was just a puck that comes off of the stanchion and its a bouncing puck," he said. "Obviously, it leaves them with an open cage and an opportunity." The closing goals buoyed the hopes of the Blue Jackets and called into question the Penguins, who have been playoff busts since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. "I dont know if you can script a better finish," Richards said. Notes: The NHL announced earlier Wednesday that Game 5 will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Pittsburgh. ... Bobrovsky had 22 saves for the Blue Jackets. ... Columbus was without rookie D Ryan Murray, who was wearing a boot after being hit with a puck in practice. Veteran Nick Schultz took his spot. ... Bylsma said he was hopeful C Marcel Goc (ankle) may be able to play in the series. ... Likely NHL MVP Crosby has not scored a goal in his last nine playoff games and Evgeni Malkin hasnt found the net in his last eight. Joe Looney Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny.(CCA) - Canadas Braden Calvert will be playing for the bronze medal after an extra-end loss to Switzerland in the Page 3-4 playoff on Tuesday at the World Junior Curling Championships in Switzerland. Calvert and his team of Kyle Kurz, Lucas Van Den Bosch, Brendan Wilson, alternate Matt Dunstone and coach Tom Clasper earned their spot in the playoffs by finishing in third place in the round robin with a 6-3 record. "Were a little disappointed right now," said Calvert immediately after the game. "We played a lot better in the second half after getting off to a sluggish start.  We didnt really make the other team make too difficult shots." Both teams stuck to defence, and after eight ends the score was tied 3-3. Switzerland scored two in the ninth, but Calvert was able to force the extra end with a perfect draw for two on his last shot of the 10th. In the extra end, Switzerland missed a couple of tick shots, allowing Canada to draw around and lie one. With his last, Calvert drew the front off the four-foot to lie two, and Schwaller elected to try the double take-out. James Hanna Jersey. . His shooter just hung on for the score of one and a ticket to the semifinal. "It was a really, really tough game," said Swiss skip Schwaller. "It was so close in the end, maybe just a few centimetres in it, just crazy. We played really defensively, that was the key to winning. Canadian curling always involves a lot of stones and guards - we wanted to play defensively and not play their game." Tuesday afternoon, Schwaller will play Norways Eirik Mjoeen, who lost to Scotlands Kyle Smith in the Page 1-2 playoff game. Smith goes directly to Wednesdays final, where he will try to defend his 2013 world junior championship title. Canada will face the loser of the semifinal between Norway and Switzerland in the bronze medal game on Wednesday at 7am et/4am pt, and Calvert says the Canadians will be ready. "I think well get rested and fired up to play the bronze medal game," he said. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '



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