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	<channel>		<title>RUWT? News</title>
		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals 5/13/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:36:41 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Not even close: Penguins beat Caps 6-2 in Game 7]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON(AP) -- For a guy who supposedly shies from the
limelight, Sidney Crosby was as good as could be in the first
Game 7 of his career.

The rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins were pretty close to
perfect, too.

Crosby scored twice to raise his NHL-leading playoff goal total
to 12, his teammates shut down his big rival, Alex Ovechkin,
most of the night, and the Penguins beat the Washington Capitals
6-2 on Wednesday to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the
second consecutive season.

Crosby "won't say he likes front and center, the big stage, or
anything like that," Penguins forward Bill Guerin said. "But he
really knows how to perform in it."

That's for sure.

Still, Crosby took no outward pleasure in coming out ahead in
the second-round series otherwise known as Sid the Kid vs.
Alexander the Great.

"It feels good, just because of the way the series went," Crosby
said, "not particularly because it was me and him."

Everyone chipped in for the Penguins, from the stars to the
second thoughts, from regular-season scoring leader Evgeni
Malkin's two assists, to fourth-line forward Craig Adams' first
goal in 42 career postseason games. Second-year defenseman Kris
Letang, 38-year-old Guerin and Jordan Staal scored, too.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves and didn't allow a goal until
his team led 5-0.

Indeed, plenty of Penguins considered the key moment Fleury's
nerve-testing save on two-time NHL goal leader Ovechkin on a
breakaway all of 3:01 into a still-scoreless game.

"That sends your team a message right away," Crosby said. "It
allows you to calm down a little."

Even Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said: "It didn't seem like
we had a lot of emotion, but if Alex would have put that one in
on the breakaway, who knows? It might have been a different
story."

Perhaps. But the Penguins dominated at both ends, and needed
less than 22 1/2 minutes to forge a four-goal lead that moved
Boudreau to switch goalies.

"We were surprised" at how easy things went, Malkin said.

Pittsburgh's 4-3 series victory after trailing 2-0 moves it
closer to a second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup finals,
something the team last did in 1991 and 1992. The Penguins will
face the Bruins or Hurricanes, who play their second-round Game
7 at Boston on Thursday night.

For the Capitals, the setback extends some dispiriting trends.
They are 2-6 in Game 7s, including 0-3 against the Penguins. And
they have lost seven of eight playoff series against Pittsburgh
- including four times after Washington held a two-game lead.

The NHL boasted that it's the first time since 2001 three
conference semifinals went the distance, and the league, its TV
partners and fans had to be excited about the potential drama on
tap Wednesday. In addition to all of the big names on the ice,
there was this: Five of the series' first six games were decided
by one goal - and three went to overtime.

"I can't describe the ups and downs of the series," Crosby said.

Nothing but ups for his team on this night, in part because
Pittsburgh scored goals 8 seconds apart in the first period. And
just kept on scoring.

Crosby put the visitors ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal about 7
1/2 minutes in from his favorite spot on the ice: the net's
doorstep. He assisted on Pittsburgh's third goal, then added
something of a finishing touch with another power-play goal in
the third period. Crosby stole the puck from his rival,
Ovechkin, before beating Varlamov's replacement, Jose Theodore,
to make it 6-1.

That truly was an unimaginable margin in this tight-as-could-be
series: Entering Wednesday, the teams were tied or separated by
one goal 92 percent of the time. Neither team had led by three
goals at any point in Games 1-6.

"It just hurts," Ovechkin said. "I don't want to talk about me,
personally. It's all about team."

His too-late-to-mean-anything goal, in the second period,
allowed Ovechkin to finish the series with 14 points - one more
than Crosby and the first time an NHL player reached that total
since 1995. But that's little consolation, of course.

When the game ended, Crosby and Ovechkin met at center ice for
the customary post-series handshakes. They've traded hits on the
ice and trash talk off it this season, yet both said the right
things Wednesday.

"I just said, 'Great series.' There was a lot of eyes on the
series," Crosby said. "It was a battle for both teams.
Individually, we both wanted to make sure we did a great job."

And what did Ovechkin tell Crosby, his predecessor as league
MVP?

"I just wished him good luck," Ovechkin said, "and told him to
win the Stanley Cup."

Notes: Boudreau said Ovechkin and Mike Green played with
injuries. ... The most lopsided score in a Game 7 in NHL history
is Detroit's 7-0 victory over Colorado in the 2002 Western
Conference finals, according to STATS LLC. ... Penguins D Sergei
Gonchar had an assist in his return to the lineup after being
sidelined by a knee injury since a hit by Ovechkin in the first
period of Game 4. Ovechkin apologized when they spoke after Game
7.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/97448-Not-even-close-Penguins-beat-Caps-6-2-in-Game-7</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/97448-Not-even-close-Penguins-beat-Caps-6-2-in-Game-7</guid>
				<pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 05:05:55 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Penguins-Capitals Preview]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Sports Writer

Pittsburgh At Washington, Game One, 7:00 p.m. EDT

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) --  When the Washington Capitals host the
Pittsburgh Penguins to finish their taut, thrilling Eastern
Conference semifinal Wednesday night, Alex Ovechkin's third
career Game 7 in the NHL playoffs will mark Sidney Crosby's
debut in such a setting.

That's right: For all of his talent and success, Sid the Kid is
still relatively, well, a kid.

"I've watched a lot of Game 7s, but this will be my first one,"
the 21-year-old Crosby said. "I've never played one in juniors -
or any level."

So he and 22-year-old teammate Kris Letang asked the, ahem,
more-experienced Bill Guerin for some words of advice Tuesday
while skipping the optional skate at the Penguins' practice
facility.

"Somebody," Crosby observed, "is going home."

Which sort of feels like a bit of a shame, given what these
teams have delivered so far in a series that features the past
two NHL MVPs (Ovechkin and Crosby), two of this year's MVP
finalists (Ovechkin and Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin), and the
past two league points leaders (Malkin and Ovechkin).

"Tomorrow," Ovechkin said, wearing gray sweats and flip-flops
after sitting out Washington's optional practice, "is going to
be pretty sick."

Consider:

- Five games were won by a single goal, and the other was
decided by only two goals;

- Three games went to overtime, including Washington's 5-4
victory at Pittsburgh in Game 6 on Monday night;

- Both teams led in each game, and five times the team that
scored first lost. Both teams have held a series lead, with
Washington up 2-0, then Pittsburgh up 3-2. And the teams have
been tied or separated by one goal 92 percent of the time.

"It's lived up to the hype of the 'Super Series,"' Capitals
forward Brooks Laich said, "and I think it's great for hockey,
in general."

There are particular moments that stand out, from rookie goalie
Simeon Varlamov's out-of-nowhere save on Crosby in Game 1, to
the hat tricks delivered by Ovechkin and Crosby in Game 2, to
the OT victories for the Penguins in Games 3 and 5 when a puck
went in the goal off a Capitals defenseman.

"The star power is there, and they haven't underperformed,"
Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's not like you're
playing in the Super Bowl, and you've got the best running back
in the league going seven carries for 12 yards. There's no
disappointment here."

Certainly not.

Ovechkin has 13 points (seven goals, six assists), better than
two per game - and more than anyone in the NHL has produced in
any playoff series since 2003.

Crosby, meanwhile, has 10 points, and Malkin eight.

It might have been instructive for Crosby to hear what the
Capitals had to say Tuesday about what they remember of their
recent Game 7 experiences.

In the first round this season, they won a Game 7, coming back
from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the New York Rangers. But
in the first round a year ago, Ovechkin's first trip to the
postseason, the Capitals lost a Game 7 at home in overtime to
the Philadelphia Flyers.

Asked how he felt when that game ended, Ovechkin said:
"Terrible, actually. But I don't want to think about losing."

Laich was more willing to share his memories in detail.

"It honestly felt like someone had just ripped my heart out," he
said. "It was the worst feeling. I don't wish it upon anyone.
Your season crashes, and it's all over. That's why you fight so
hard to avoid it."

Notes: Pittsburgh D Sergei Gonchar, out since a knee-on-knee
collision with Ovechkin in the first period of Game 4, skated
Tuesday. He will try to play Wednesday. ... Games 5 and 6 earned
FSN Pittsburgh the two highest TV ratings for any NHL game on
any regional sports network. ... Boudreau planned to follow
Tuesday night's Game 7 of the American Hockey League series
between Washington's affiliate, Hershey, and Pittsburgh's
affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, on the Internet, while also
watching Game 6 of the NHL series between the Boston Bruins and
Carolina Hurricanes on TV. Boudreau used to coach Hershey. The
Pittsburgh-Washington winner meets the Boston-Carolina winner in
the Eastern Conference finals. ... Ovechkin said he's having a
hard time finding box seats to accomodate 20 or so of his
friends and family Wednesday. "The box is a problem," he said,
"because lots of rich people here in Washington, they're crazy
about hockey." ...

---=

Freelance reporter Chris Adamski in Canonsburg, Pa., contributed
to this report.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/97231-Penguins-Capitals-Preview</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/97231-Penguins-Capitals-Preview</guid>
				<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 21:46:06 GMT</pubDate>
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