RADFORD, Va. (AP) R.J. Price scored 20 points and Jalen Carethers had career highs with 12 points and seven rebounds to help Radford beat Brevard 81-53 Wednesday.
Manzey Miller added 11 points and three assists for Radford (3-3), which is one of the youngest teams in the country, with one senior and one junior on a 14-man roster.
Dominique Pickett scored 18 points, and Miles Leathers added 16 points for the Division II Tornadoes (0-4), who turned the ball over 25 times.
After losing Game 1 and Game 2 at home, Alex Ovechkin declared "It’s going to be fun when we bounce back and going to tie the series and come back here and play Game 5 at home.”
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella seems to be taking a similar tactic.
The Capitals won Game 5 in overtime on Saturday in a game that could prove to be emotionally draining for the Blue Jackets in a number of ways.
Tortorella has become famous for his fiery postgame press conferences in the past, including abruptly walking out after Game 4's presser when he declared "We sucked" to the media.
Saturday's was another fun one.
In a presser that lasted less than two minutes, Tortorella twice said, "We'll be back here for Game 7."
After such a draining game, Tortorella was asked how he would get them ready for what is sure to be an emotionally charged Game 6.
"I won't have to say a damn word to them," Tortorella said. "No. We'll be back here for Game 7."
The Blue Jackets will have to win Game 6 in Columbus to make that happen.
Barry Trotz was asked for his reaction after Tortorella's comments.
"What else are you going to say? That's good. He wants to get it out there, he believes in his team just as I believe in my team. It's our job for that not to happen."
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The Columbus Blue Jackets were the better team for large stretches of Game 5, but they ultimately weren't good enough. The Washington Capitals defended home ice for the first time this series and escaped with a 4-3 overtime win to take a 3-2 series lead and push the Blue Jackets to the brink.
Here's how Washington won Game 5.
A fluke bounce off of Sergei Bobrovsky’s back
Much was made coming into Game 5 of the fact that the road team had won every game to this point in the series. After winning two straight, it was imperative that for the Caps to come in and take advantage of the home crowd. But Columbus was the better team to start and scored a shorthanded tally for the game’s first goal. There was not much to like about the start…until a fluke bounce tied the game at one. Nicklas Backstrom had the puck behind the goal line and tried to feed it in front. Bobrovsky stuck his stick out to block the pass, but the puck had so much spin on it, it bounced up and off the netminder’s back into the net. A bad start ended up not costing Washington as the score was tied at 1 after the first.
The penalty kill
In the first two games of the series, the Caps gave up four power play goals on eight opportunities. Since then, Washington's PK has been lights out. The Caps gave up five power plays to Columbus in a penalty-filled contest, but killed off all five of them. Washington has not allowed a power play goal since Game 2, killing off 13 straight opportunities in the process.
A critical save by Braden Holtby
The Caps looked like they were out of gas in the third period. They held a 3-2 lead at the start, but yielded the game-tying goal to Oliver Bjorkstrand just 2:30 in and had to survive just to reach overtime. They were outshot 16-1 during that period. Luckily for them, Holtby was on point. All 15 saves Holtby made that period were critical, but none was better than highway robbery he committed on Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Considering how gassed the Caps looked that period, that goal would have been tough to come back from.
Nicklas Backstrom
There was no question who the player of the game was in this one. Backstrom scored the Caps' first goal off the back of Bobrovsky, then deflected in the overtime winner for his second goal of the game. But it goes beyond what he did on the ice. After the game, Barry Trotz said some of the team leaders stepped up in the locker room in between the third period and overtime. He would not name names, but did confirm Backstrom was one of those who spoke out.
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