Ovechkin's hat trick keys Caps' OT comeback over Pens
Hockey Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Knuble scored on the power-play with 2:11 remaining in overtime, and Alex Ovechkin recorded a hat trick, as the Washington Capitals fought back from a three-goal deficit to edge Pittsburgh, 5-4, and extend their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games.
Eric Fehr also tallied for the Capitals, while Washington goaltender Jose Theodore made 31 saves.
The last club to win 14 in a row were the Penguins when they set an NHL record with 17 consecutive victories from March 9-April 10, 1993.
Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal each scored twice for Pittsburgh, which didn't arrive to the team hotel until 2:15 a.m. (et.) because of the blizzard that struck the Nation's Capital.
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed five goals on 34 shots to take the loss.
Staal scored two goals in an 84-second span in the second period to give Pittsburgh a 4-1 cushion. His second tally came off a nifty setup by Evgeni Malkin at 13:07.
Fehr put a backhander on net and buried his own rebound to make it a two-goal game with 2:48 remaining in the middle stanza.
The Penguins lost to the Canadiens on Saturday and were forced to take a flight from Montreal to Newark, New Jersey and then endure a five-hour bus ride to Washington because of the crippling storm.
The difficult circumstances might have caught up to the club as the Caps rallied in the third period.
Ovechkin swatted a rebound after deflecting a Tom Poti shot at 6:51 and completed the trifecta a little over four minutes later. Ovechkin, who now boasts a league-leading 42 goals, took a drop pass from Knuble after a Nicklas Backstrom faceoff win and snapped the puck behind a stunned Pittsburgh netminder.
Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik caught Washington forward Alexander Semin with a high stick at 2:26 of the extra session and Ovechkin unloaded a shot from the left wing that hit the post before Knuble pushed in the rebound.
Crosby staked the visitors to a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old.
The Pittsburgh captain picked off Tyler Sloan, who went for the stretch pass from his own zone, and beat Theodore on the backhand at 6:59. Crosby converted a power play exactly three minutes later.
Ovechkin scored on a breakaway to put Washington on the board at the 9:01 mark of the second period.
Game Notes
Backstrom and Malkin both had two assists...The Caps haven't lost since a 7-4 setback at Tampa Bay on January 12...Theodore has won 10 consecutive starts...Left winger Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh. He missed 15 games after undergoing abdominal surgery.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.