The Eastern Conference was on the schedule last night in the NHL Playoffs. The four teams took the spotlight and ran with it longer than they were supposed to as both of last night’s games ended in overtime.

Washington 2 @ Pittsburgh 3 (OT) – Game 2’s story was the Sid and Alex show. This time, things were a little more balanced across the rosters. While the Pens’ hero in game two was Crosby, last night, it was Kris Letang. Letang blasted a shot from the point that deflected off Shaone Morrisson and past Simeon Varlamov to win the game. For the first time this series, Evgeni Malkin was heard from. With his parents in attendance, Geno wristed home the go-ahead goal with five minutes to go. The Caps wouldn’t say die though and Nick Backstrom scored the tying goal with two minutes to go. Neither of the big stars were silent on the night though, Ovechkin had a goal and assist while Crosby had a pair of helpers.
Washington leads the series 2-1

Boston 2 @ Carolina 3 (OT) – Jussi Jokinen was always known as a shootout specialist. Now that playoff time has come around, Jokinen has shown that he can be clutch at any time of the game. Jokinen made another big impact for the Cardiac Canes once again, scoring the overtime winner to give Carolina the series lead. Despite the loss, Tim Thomas was busy but solid, making 38 saves on 41 shots. Milan Lucic opened the scoring for Boston eight minutes in. Carolina was trying to catch up from that point and did late in the second when Eric Staal and Sergei Sampsonov scored 69 seconds apart to take the lead. Mark Recchi scored the tying goal with 11 minutes to go to send the game to overtime. After two straight losses, it’s back to the drawing board for Boston. Tim Thomas is doing his part but the 18 men in front of him have to step up too.
Carolina leads the series 2-1

Three Stars of the Night:
1. Jussi Jokinen (Carolina)
2. Tim Thomas (Boston)
3. Kris Letang (Pittsburgh)

Thursday’s Schedule:
Vancouver at Chicago – Vancouver leads the series 2-1 (TV: CBC, Versus)
Detroit at Anaheim – Anaheim leads the series 2-1 (TV: TSN, Versus)