SPORTS
Saturday, June 13, 2015
East Oregonian
NHL Finals
Page 3B
WNBA
Defensemen starring in tense Stanley Cup Dream snag
narrow win
By GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
BRANDON, Fla. — After
Steven Stamkos stepped off the
Lightning’s practice rink on a
90-degree
June
day, the Tampa Game 5
Bay captain calmly
made it clear he
is well aware that
Chicago
he hasn’t scored a
JRDO\HWLQKLV¿UVW Blackhawks
at
Stanley Cup Final.
“Keep playing
the game the right
way, and eventu- Tampa Bay
ally you’re going Lightning
to get rewarded,”
Stamkos
said • Saturday
• 5 p.m.
Friday.
• TV: NBC
When Jonathan • Series
Toews and the tied 2-2
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through a Florida
rainstorm and landed in Tampa
several hours later, the Chicago
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and Patrick Kane also know they
have one combined goal.
“We just know you’ve got to
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to create chances, and eventually
believe that a bounce is going to go
your way,” Toews said.
The captains are mirrors of calm
in an increasingly tense situation,
accepting the spotlight that comes
in those inevitable stretches when
their outsized skills don’t light up
scoreboards. They’re determined
to preserve their teams’ cool and
focus when this exceptionally even
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in Game 5 on Saturday night.
After all, somebody will get a
big goal this weekend at Amalie
Arena, where either the Lightning
or the Blackhawks will end the 2-2
series tie and move one win away
from a title. Why not them?
“You don’t get this far without
having that character, and I think
this is where it has to come out as
much as possible,” Chicago defen-
seman Duncan Keith said.
The Lightning and the Black-
hawks realize the enormous stakes
on every shift of Game 5 in a series
that still hasn’t featured a two-goal
lead. The captains and the coaches
are attempting to direct that excite-
ment into motivation instead of
intimidation.
“You’ve got to get caught up in
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Angel
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the Atlanta Dream
beat the Washington
Mystics 64-61 on
Friday night.
Atlanta
Tiffany Hayes
added 12 points for
the Dream (2-2),
who trailed 49-38
at the end of the
Washington third quarter before
scoring a season-
high 26 points in the
fourth.
Mission native Shoni Schimmel
hit two 3s to spark a 17-6 run,
which was capped by a 3-pointer by
Roneeka Hodges and pulled Atlanta
within one with 4:41 to play. Those
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of the game.
Sancho Lyttle’s steal set up
McCoughtry’s 3 which gave the
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midway through the second quarter.
Two free throws by McCoughtry
capped the scoring.
Ivory Latta rimmed out a potential
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Emma Meesseman had 21 points
and grabbed nine rebounds for the
Mystics (2-1).
64
61
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) keeps his eye on the puck along side teammate
Duncan Keith (2) and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Ryan Callahan (24) during the first period in Game 4
of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Wednesday, June 10, 2015, in Chicago.
the moment,” Tampa Bay coach Jon
Cooper said. “You have to embrace
where we are. It’s the middle of
June, and we’re still playing hockey.
The Stanley Cup is up for grabs in
the best-two-out-of-three. I don’t
think we should be afraid of that. I
don’t think we should walk around
being tense and looking at the
magnitude of where we are, being
afraid of the moment. This is the
time of our lives.”
Keith and Tampa Bay’s
Victor Hedman have embraced
this moment better than anyone.
Stamkos, Kane and Toews have
been upstaged through four games
by their star defensemen, who are
both turning in dominant playoff
performances.
In a postseason missing a
breakout offensive performance
or a dominant goaltending run,
Keith or Hedman are the odds-on
favorites to win the Conn Smythe
Trophy as the playoffs MVP.
Barring a spectacular pile of goals
from playoff scoring leader Tyler
Johnson or another forward, the
series winner seems likely to feature
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Conn Smythe since Anaheim’s
Scott Niedermayer in 2007.
Keith and Hedman are 1-2 in
the NHL in postseason plus-minus
ratings and total minutes. Keith
leads the playoffs with 18 assists
during his incredible extended ice
time, while Hedman has set fran-
chise playoff records for assists and
points by a defenseman.
Although they play the game
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do-everything role for their respec-
tive teams.
“In a lot of ways, yeah, (Hedman)
is a guy like Duncan,” Toews said.
“He makes, more times than not, the
players he’s out there with better.
He’s a catalyst when he’s in his own
zone or the offensive zone.”
Only four defensemen in NHL
history have recorded more than
Keith’s 18 assists in this postseason,
and nobody has done it since Brian
Leetch’s 23 during the New York
Rangers’ Stanley Cup run in 1994.
Keith’s sheer minutes are the
most jaw-dropping aspect of it all:
He has played 655 minutes and 55
seconds in the postseason, averaging
31:14 per game. Chicago coach Joel
Quenneville’s top four defensemen
are all averaging more ice time per
game than Hedman, although the
Lightning have played more games.
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It’s tough to quantify whether
those extra minutes have affected
the Chicago defensemen’s overall
aggressiveness, particularly on the
offensive end. But with the season’s
end in clear view, the Blackhawks’
big four say they won’t let up.
“It’s not as bad as you would
think,” said Chicago defenseman
Niklas Hjalmarsson, who is aver-
aging a measly 25:56. “Personally,
I could have played (Thursday). I
could have skipped these two days
in between games, but we’re not
making the schedule here. It’s just
at the most three games left here to
do something great, and it’s pretty
easy to get motivated and forget
about that stuff.”
Hedman has the second-most
total minutes of any players in the
Stanley Cup playoffs, yet he has
logged nearly 82 fewer minutes
than Keith. Hedman’s two-year
evolution from a project left off the
Swedish Olympic team into a star
culminated with his game-winning
assist in Game 3.
“I’ve always said this, (and I’ve)
been around a long time: I’ve never
seen a guy 6-foot-6, 230 (pounds),
skate like he does,” Tampa Bay
associate coach Rick Bowness said.
!
Well Done
Rockets!
NASCAR
.DKQHZLQV¿UVW
pole since 2012
Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. — It’s hard
to believe for those who follow
NASCAR, but Kasey Kahne had not
won a pole since 2012.
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Sprint Cup pole in nearly 32 months
Friday, topping qualifying at Mich-
igan International Speedway with a
lap of 201.992 mph.
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35-year-old driver since October
2012 at Kansas, but it’s the 27th of
his career, tying him with NASCAR
Hall of Fame inductee Terry Labonte
for 25th on the career list.
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