An Ovation for the Ovechtrick

Playoff hockey has brought back Verizon’s “Ovechtrick” commercial with the requisite saturation. For those not in the know, that would be nine goals in a game. (The NHL record is seven). One simulation pegs its real-world likelihood at 2 in 10,000.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); On the eve of the NHL playoffs opening in real life, Kotaku reader THEAnderson saw the Verizon spot and decided to take a shot at it in NHL 11, midway through the second season of his “Be a yono arcade GM” mode with the Capitals. Further, he’d be trying it against the Tampa Bay Lightning, division rivals whom the Capitals are also facing IRL at the moment. “[In the first period] I found winning faceoffs, and sending the puck back to young defenseman John Carlson, it almost became like clockwork that Ovechkin would come charging down the halfboards, make a pass, or drive towards the net and burying the biscuit in the basket,” THEAnderson writes. “As I checked with about ten minutes to go in the game (the periods go extremely quickly), I needed three quick strikes to clinch the Ovechtrick.” Ovie ripped a drive from the left circle for No. 7, but then THEAnderson was horrified to see Nicklas Backstrom tip in a goal instead of feeding the big Russian, taking precious time off the clock. Ovie buried another goal, then Brooks Laich scored. Sitting on eight with 45 seconds on the clock, Ovechkin found the back of the twine, sending Elmo or whatever that thing is into spasms of delight. Here’s the box score. Remember, all you have to do to get yourself featured in Box Scores’ Game of the Week is take a picture of whatever you’ve been playing – crappy cell picture will do – write up a couple sentences about why it was so compelling, and email it to me, owenATkotakuDOTcom, with “Box Scores” in the subject header. I will star all submitters, regardless of whether they are published. So be sure to include include your commenter handle, or your commenter page URL if it is different from your handle. Now the Kotaku Sports open thread commences with the sports TV highlights for today and tomorrow. All times are U.S. Eastern. NHL Playoffs Today, Boston and Philadelphia open their second-round series on NBC and CBC at 3 p.m. Tonight, CBC and Versus have game two of the Nashville-Vancouver series, which the Canucks lead 1-0. Tomorrow, it’s game two of Detroit-San Jose, which the Sharks lead 1-0 (NBC and TSN, 3 p.m.) followed by Tampa Bay at Washington (Versus, CBC) at 7. The Lightning lead the Caps 1-0 in that. NBA Playoffs No games today. Tomorrow sees two second-round openers, upstart Memphis at Oklahoma City (1 p.m., ABC) and Boston at Miami (3:30, ABC). Baseball Fox’s game of the week today is the Mets at Phillies, St. Louis at Atlanta, or the Angels at Tampa Bay. 1 p.m., check local listings. WGN yono business sbi has the Orioles at White Sox at 7. Tomorrow, TBS has the Blue Jays at Yankees at 1; WGN features the Cubs at D’backs at 4; and ESPN’s yono business game of the week is the Mets at Phillies at 8. Other stuff If you really want to watch the NFL draft, ESPN and the NFL Network are carrying rounds 4 through 7 beginning right now. Track enthusiasts will want to see the Penn Relays, on same-day tape on ESPN2 at 8. UFC 129’s main event is GSP vs. Jake Shields on pay-per-view, 9. And NASCAR’s Hansen 400 runs at 7 p.m. on Fox. All of these events are today. Remember, you may send Game of the Week nominations to owenATkotakuDOTcom, and flag it “Box Scores” in the subject header. Please include your commenter handle for proper credit.