State of Hockey? State of Hockey.
If you tuned into Saturday's NHL playoff games for even a moment, chances are you saw some familiar faces in the spotlight. Scan the score sheets from Ottawa's 6-5 victory over the Rangers and Pittsburgh's 6-2 romp over Washington and the names are hard to ignore.
The final tally? Nine goals and six assists for players with Minnesotans or Gophers connections. Here's the rundown:
Jake Guentzel (Hill-Murray) and Phil Kessel (Gophers): two goals and an assist each
Brady Skjei (Lakeville; Gophers): two goals
Matt Cullen (Moorhead; St. Cloud State): goal, assist
Derek Stepan (Hastings): goal
Matt Niskanen (Virginia; UMD): goal
Ryan McDonagh (Cretin-Derham Hall): two assists
T.J. Oshie (Warroad): assist
And former Gophers' standout Nate Schmidt nearly added another, hitting the pipe for Washington late in the third period.
It helped that 19 goals were scored in the two games. But, hey, score one for Minnesotans tonight. Actually, score plenty.
Here's some highlights.
