Last season, Nick Bonino drove the final nail into the Washington Capitals, scoring the overtime winner for the Penguins in a clinching Game 6 of a second-round series. On Thursday night, he was hammering again.
Bonino broke a third-period tie with his second goal of the playoffs, leading the Penguins to a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinals series.
Game 2 will be played Saturday night in Washington.
“It’s big,” Bonino said. “We lost (Game 1) last year. We know you’re behind the 8 ball when that happens. To steal a game in their rink and effectively get home ice back in the series, that’s huge.”
Bonino’s goal came after the Capitals rallied back from two goals down to forge a 2-2 tie.
The play was a perfect example of the bedrock principle the Penguins used to claim the Stanley Cup last season — speed, in all its forms, turning a puck in the defensive zone into a scoring chance in no time flat.
“I haven’t had a breakaway in I don’t know how long,” Bonino said. “I just tried to get it on net, and it found a hole there.”
No one in the locker room seemed surprised Bonino played the hero. In last season’s playoffs, he was a legitimate Conn Smythe Trophy contender with 18 points in 24 games.
“I just think Bones is a guy that’s a high-stakes player,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He brings his best game when the games are most important.”
Another player who fits that description, of course, is Sidney Crosby. “That’s how it goes sometimes,” Crosby said. “You don’t get some for a while and then they come in bunches.”