Welcome to the playoffs, Evgeni Malkin.
And welcome to the second round, Pittsburgh Penguins.
Those two sentiments might not be mutually exclusive, but the second wouldn't have happened without the first. With Malkin springing to life with a hat trick to pace the Penguins to a nail-biter of a 4-3 win in Game 6 of the Penguins’ first-round NHL playoff matchup, the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets’ hopes of advancing to Round 2 for the first time in franchise history were finally snuffed out.
It wasn’t easy—not in the least.
Bylsma: "We have a rivalry born here. They gave us everything we could handle. Extremely tough first-round opponent." #Penguins #CBJ
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) April 29, 2014
The final game of the series summed up the six-game set perfectly. The Penguins were the more talented team, but the relentless Blue Jackets refused to quit until the season officially expired.
It came down to the final seconds despite the massive advantage provided by three Pens goals from Malkin and another from Brandon Sutter before the second intermission.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Macfarlane
Evgeni Malkin Shuts Door on Relentless Blue Jackets in Tough Series for Penguins
April 28th, 2014 by Steve Macfarlane Leave a reply »
Advertisement