Stanley Cup Final: Nick Bonino scores with 2 minutes left (Video)
By David Rouben
The HBK Line came through for the Penguins when Nick Bonino scored with two minutes to go in Game 1.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won a tense Game 1 against the San Jose Sharks when Nick Bonino came through in the clutch.
Even though Pittsburgh’s HBK line (Hagelin, Bonino, and Kessel) was the talk of the playoffs heading into the Stanley Cup Final, it was the Penguins’ secondary scorers that got Game 1 started when Eastern Conference Finals hero Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary gave Pittsburgh a quick 2-0 lead. But the Sharks stormed back in the second period to tie the game at 2.
With the game looking like it would go to overtime, the Penguins needed something to spark the crowd, and Bonino’s game-winning goal with two minutes left made the Consol Energy Center explode:
The Pens proved that just when you think you’ve solved the HBK line, you still have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to deal with. When all of Pittsburgh’s lines are going, they are an extremely tough out. But the Sharks have great offensive depth too, and they didn’t come this far for no reason.
They’re going to need an immediate response in Game 2 if they want to make things interesting, as they definitely don’t want to go down 2-0.
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