 |
| [ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON TIMES ] |
Will Graves, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A cathartic celebration 20
years in the making began with a poke of Evgeny Kuznetsov's stick. It
built as the puck that Kuznetsov tapped away from Sidney Crosby made its
way to Washington Capitals teammate Alexander Ovechkin.
It neared its crescendo as Ovechkin flipped
it back to Kuznetsov, who at this point had split two Penguins and was
streaking toward the Pittsburgh net. And it culminated jubilantly and
unexpectedly in the corner moments later, with the puck in the net and
Kuznetsov's teammates mobbing him after he ended two decades of
frustration with a flick of the Russian's wrist.
The ghosts of past playoff failures, many of
them at the hands of the Penguins, were gone. Dispatched over the course
of six games of grit and guile, the last a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6
on Monday night that gave Washington a 4-2 series victory and a spot in
the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay.
"It's pretty emotional," Kuznetsov said after
his seventh goal of the playoffs 5:27 into overtime pushed the Capitals
into the NHL's final four for just the third time in franchise history.
"I don't really have a word for it."
