Sharks coach Bob Boughner went to zoo day after ‘Marathon on Ice' game

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Editor’s note: Sports Uncovered, the newest podcast from NBC Sports, will shine a fresh light on some of the most remarkable moments in sports. The fourth episode tells the story of the "Marathon on Ice" between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

May 5, 2000. For some, it was the first Cinco de Mayo of the 21st Century. For Bob Boughner, it was supposed to be a day at the zoo with his family, but he never expected to be as tired as he was. 

Boughner, the Sharks' current head coach, was a defenseman at the time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The night before, his Penguins were facing the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Pittsburgh. That game went just a tad longer than he planned. 

Boughner played 50 minutes and had 66 shifts in the Penguins' 2-1 loss over five (!) overtimes. 

"I did have kids in the stands at that point and time," Boughner remembered on the latest "Sports Uncovered" podcast. "They were all young. They were obviously taken home in the second or third overtime, it was just too late.

"You could look into the stands, even as a player and there were little kids sleeping on their parents."

[SPORTS UNCOVERED: Listen to the latest episode]

The Penguins lost Game 5 three days later, and lost the series in six games. Boughner played 177 regular-season games in his NHL career and another 65 in the playoffs. There's no doubt he never will forget the "Marathon on Ice" in Pittsburgh. 

He also can't forget that tiresome next day at the zoo.

"I had plans, it was the day after the next day, we had plans to take the kids to the Pittsburgh Zoo," Boughner said. "I’ll never forget getting home about four in the morning and you know little kids are up at seven or eight o’clock. How tired I was walking around the zoo the next day with a bunch of kids and just trying to stay awake.

"It wasn’t only mentally draining but physically."

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