New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has constantly been referred to as the greatest of all time (GOAT)
Nick Jensen Jersey , since winning his fifth Super Bowl championship over the Atlanta Falcons last year.It's easy to understand why so many people
think this. For a lot of fans and pundits, it all comes down to championships.
Brady has the five Super Bowls, three NFL MVP awards and holds virtually every
quarterback playoff and Super Bowl record imaginable.But after New England's
Super Bowl 52 loss to the underdog Philadelphia Eagles, we have to take a closer
look at Brady, and understand that he is not the GOAT that the media loves to
hype him up as.Let's get the ring argument out of the way early. Bart Starr (the
Green Bay Packers legend), won five NFL Championships and two Super Bowls. So if
Brady is better than Peyton Manning and Joe Montana because of rings, Starr is
better than TB12.You're also saying Jimmy Garoppolo is better than Aaron
Rodgers
Radim Vrbata Jersey , even though the former was a backup in New England for his two titles. See where I'm going with this? The ring argument is as
flawed as it gets. The Pittsburgh Penguins can admit it now. The regular season
is kind of a drag.
Being the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions creates a target on your back that’s impossible to shake. An NHL-high 19 back-to-backs left them spent. A
sluggish first half forced them to focus.
No matter. The Penguins survived. And now they’re heading to the playoffs with momentum and home-ice advantage in the opening round. A legitimate shot at
a Stanley Cup three-peat awaits.
Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel banked in goals off Craig Anderson minutes apart in the second period, Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots and the Penguins beat
the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Friday night to clinch second place in the
Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh will begin its quest to become the first team
in 35 years to win three consecutive Cups at home next week against Columbus,
New Jersey or Philadelphia.
”I think down the stretch we had to play in some big games,” said Crosby, who played in all 82 games for the first time in his career. ”I think that mentality
and things like that prepare you for the playoffs. I think we did a good job,
won some close games and got some important points.”
Phil Kessel got his 34th goal and Patric Hornqvist pushed his career-high to 29 when he beat Anderson late in the third period for the Penguins, who reached
the 100-point plateau for the third straight year and ninth time in 11
seasons.
Not bad for a team that found itself in 10th place in the Eastern Conference in early January.
”This has been a challenging year for us in a lot of ways
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Anderson finished with 19 saves but was beaten twice from behind the goal line in the second period as the Senators lost for the ninth time in 11
games.
Crosby was standing just off the right post when he fired a shot that smacked off Anderson’s left pad and into the net 1:25 into the second period. The move
is becoming a signature for the two-time MVP.
”Unfortunate, but we’ve seen him do that before,” Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci said. ”He’s a skilled player and can make that play from behind the net.”
Guentzel scored from nearly the same spot just over six minutes later, flicking a rebound off the end boards that hit Anderson’s left leg and skittered
in for his 22nd of the season.
That was more than enough for DeSmith, given the start a night after top goaltender Matt Murray played in a draining overtime victory over the Blue
Jackets. DeSmith was sharp throughout while picking up his first career shutout,
and by the time Kessel took a slick feed from Riley Sheahan and fired it into
the open net 6:55 into the third the Penguins could turn their attention to the
postseason.
”If we can play that kind of defense in the playoffs
Jason Zucker Jersey , we’ll win a lot of games,” DeSmith said. ”Hopefully it carries over.”
Ottawa and Pittsburgh met in the Eastern Conference finals 10 months ago, with the Penguins winning on an overtime goal in Game 7 before going on to beat
Nashville for the franchise’s fifth Cup. The Senators hoped it would be a
springboard to becoming perennial contenders. Instead they will miss the
postseason for the third time in five years.
””It’s tough right now with the guys we’re missing, but it just allows other guys to step up and fill in,” Ceci said. ”It’s a great opportunity for
them.”
While Ottawa will head home for the spring and summer this weekend, the Penguins will take aim at history now that the long six-month slog of the
regular season is behind them.
”We’re looking forward to the fun part of the season,” defenseman Justin Schultz said. ”We’re ready to make another run at it.”
NOTES: Both the Senators and Penguins wore a butterfly decal with the initials ”JP” on the back of their helmets to honor an Ottawa-area teen and
longtime Senators fan who died this week due to a rare and debilitating skin
condition. Jonathan Pitre
David Krejci Jersey , 17, was nicknamed ””Butterfly Boy” and developed a close relationship with the team after sharing his battle with epidermolysis
bullosa. … Kessel played in all 82 games this season and has played in 692
consecutive games, the third-longest active ironman streak in the league. … The
victory was head coach Mike Sullivan’s 200th in the NHL. … The Penguins finished
the regular season 68 for 260 on the power play (26.2 percent). The percentage
was the best in franchise history, passing the 26.0 percent mark set in
1995-96.
UP NEXT
Senators: Finish up the season in Boston on Saturday.
Penguins: The first round of the playoffs next week. Pittsburgh has won at least one playoff series in four of the last five seasons.
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