The Providence Bruins were unable to close out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup as the home side forced a Game 6 with a 4-0 win. The Bruins wouldn't go quietly as a late-game brawl brought fireworks and set the scene for their next meeting on Monday night.

Both Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton combined for 113 penalty minutes in the game, with the bulk of the total coming after Bruins forward Graham Mink -- who had rolled over him just minutes before -- fell on top of Penguins goalie Brad Theissen after he froze the puck:

What a call by the Penguins voice Tom Grace and a nice warning to the Bruins that Steve MacIntyre lurks. And we have to applaud the arena music person for using the Ultimate Warrior's theme during the brawling.

The two teams weren't done getting at one another. Two minutes later, after Paul Thompson made it 4-0 (8:07 mark of video), Bruins netminder Niklas Svedberg took exception and slashed him in the back of the leg, setting off another round of scrums. Svedberg would get a two two-minute penalties for slashing and roughing.

Mink was given a match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure. According to AHL rules, he's fined $200 and the penalty will be reviewed by the league for supplemental discipline.

"I didn't say anything or do anything. It kind of happened. I'm not sure what provoked it," Thiessen (30 saves) told Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens' Voice afterward. "Whatever they want to do, my job is still to stop the puck."

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

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Jonathan Quick is typically a laid back dude. But after seeing the referees give the Los Angeles Kings two minor penalties in the final minute of regulation – leading to Logan Couture’s game-winning OT goal and a 2-1 San Jose Sharks’ win – Quick sought out the officials at the end of the game and was anything but laid back.

Watch Quick go zebra hunting (with an odd soccer highlight set to “C.O.P.S.” music after the clip):

The Sharks had a 5-on-3 power play to start overtime after Robyn Regehr went off for hooking Tommy Wingels at 19:18 of the third and Trevor Lewis went off for goalie interference for running into Antti Niemi with five seconds left.

That candor earned Quick a game misconduct. As per NHL Rule 23.2, that means Quick is hit with an automatic $200 fine, and could be subject to supplemental discipline although that’s not gonna happen.

Any guesses what he said?

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No. 1 Star: Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks

The Sharks netminder made 26 saves and bailed them out on defensive lapses on several occasions, as San Jose defeated the Los Angeles Kings in OT 2-1, to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

No. 2 Star: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings captain assisted on goals by Brendan Smith and Valtteri Filppula, while frustrating Jonathan Toews all game, in Detroit’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The series is tied 1-1.

No. 3 Star: Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks

The Sharks forward scored the OT game-winner at 1:29, on the power play, to give the San Jose the 2-1 win. That came after he was injured in the second period, returning to the game about 15 minutes later.

Honorable mention: Dan Boyle and Tyler Toffoli had the other goals in the Kings/Sharks game. … Jonathan Quick made 38 saves for the Kings. … Patrick Kane scored his first of the playoffs. … Damien Brunner scored his fourth for the Wings. Johan Franzen also netted his fourth. … This Brad Stuart hit was awesome:

Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; 2. David Krejci, Boston Bruins; 3. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings; 4. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; 5. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks; 6. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; 7. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; 8. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings; 9. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings; 10. Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks.

Dishonorable mention: The Kings took two penalties in the last minute of regulation to give the Sharks a 5-on-3 power play to start overtime. … Jonathan Quick received a game misconduct at the end of the game. … Dave Bolland was a minus-2 with three minor penalties.

Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks was injured in the second period of Game 3 on Saturday night vs. the Los Angeles Kings on a hit from Jeff Carter. He left for the trainers’ room, but returned later in the period to an ovation from the fans.

They would give him an even bigger ovation in overtime.

Couture scored the power-play game-winner 1:29 into overtime to give the Sharks a 2-1 victory and to cut the Kings’ lead in the series to 2-1.

The Sharks began overtime on a 5-on-3 power play after Robyn Regehr went off for hooking Tommy Wingels and 19:18 of the third and Trevor Lewis went off for goalie interference for running into Antti Niemi with five seconds left.

After the first power play ended, Couture set up in the slot and received a one-touch pass from Patrick Marleau, burying the puck high past Jonathan Quick for the win and his fourth of the playoffs.

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During her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon on Saturday night, Alexis Normand forgets the words around 15 seconds in. That’s OK. We’ve all seen this happen at a sporting event.

It’s what follows that makes this, perhaps, the biggest train-wreck version of the anthem ever heard at a hockey game:

From the Yahoo! Sports Canada junior hockey blog Buzzing The Net:

The Saskatoon singer, who performs folk and jazz music, started falteringly in front of the large crowd and a Portland team which is not only based in the United States, but also has 10 Americans in its lineup. The rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner seemed to unravel once Normand got to the third line. Then the "whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight" was bowdlerized into "those broad stripes and bright stars... at the dawn's early light." The Credit Union Centre crowd seemed amused initially. Eventually, thousands of Canadians came to the rescue and completed the lyrics.

At one point, Normand appears to just be making noises that sound like words, like when you forget a lyric while singing in your car. It’s the first version of the anthem we’ve ever heard that would have benefited from the singer faking a cough, like Bruce Campbell reading from the Necronomicon in “Army of Darkness.” The only thing missing was her turning to the camera at the end and bellowing "AND HELLO ALL YOU PEOPLE ON YOUTUBE!" before winking.

To her credit, Normand quickly tweeted an apology after the anthem:

I'm embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I'd had more time to learn the American anthem. Thanks so much for the crowd's help! #memorialcup

— Alexis Normand (@Alex6Normand) May 19, 2013

Hey, it happens. Although not always that spectacularly. The look on No. 13 Kegan Iverson’s face says it all:

Much more here from Buzzing The Net.

The return home for Game 3 will give the Ottawa Senators a little bit of a boost as they attempt get back into their second-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but with a 3-0 hole looming, the club would no doubt welcome a boost to their boost.

It looks like they'll get one of those too. After undergoing surgery for a herniated disc in his back and missing the last four months, Jason Spezza has been medically cleared to play.

He'll be in the Senators' lineup for Game 3. (Double boost!)

"I'm excited to have a chance to play again," Spezza said. "I feel ready to play."

Where he'll play remains to be seen, but Spezza has practiced on the Senators' first line alongside frequent running mate Milan Michalek, so our educated guess would be there.

That makes sense. Down 0-2, the Senators really aren't in a position to ease him into the lineup. Still, the question is what sort of impact he'll be able to have in his first game in 4 months. There's a good chance he'll see a lot of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the latter of whom notched a hat trick in Game 2. These are matchups he needs to win, and that's a lot to ask of anyone, let alone a guy that's played just 5 games this season.

But it's not like Spezza's not capable of it. His last game with the Senators was versus these very Penguins, and while Ottawa lost the decision, 2-1, in a shootout, Spezza was a large part of the reason they came away from that one with a point, finishing well above water in his head-to-head matchups with both of the Penguins' star pivots, and assisting on Ottawa's game-tying goal.

Spezza played the majority of this game matched up with Evgeni Malkin, while Kyle Turris saw the Crosby matchup (as he has for Games 1 and 2, and I'd expect he will in Game 3, Crosby's hat trick notwithstanding).

But when Spezza didn't see Malkin, he saw Crosby, and despite playing the majority of the night versus two of the best centres in the Eastern Conference, Spezza finished the evening with an even-strength Corsi rate (plus/minus for shots attempted, basically) of plus-9. Crosby was a minus-9. Malkin was a minus-6.

Spezza, who is a much better two-way player now than he was the last time the Senators and the Penguins met in the playoffs, also won 11 of 16 faceoffs versus this duo in that game.

If the Senators can return a guy capable of winning these pivotal shifts, their chances of staging a comeback in this series increase exponentially. But after four months on the shelf, one wonders if Spezza can be the player he's capable of being right away.

Game 3 goes Sunday. It totally should have been Saturday, though, which is the 10-year anniversary of Spezza's original playoff debut. That would have been cool.

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Courtesy of Katie Baker, this “Sounds of the Game” video the NHL produced for Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is probably the closest thing we’ll get to an HBO ‘24/7’-esque look at the game this season. (Stupid no good lousy lockout.)

Among the highlights:

• Karl Alzner asking Derek Dorsett where “they found the aquarium to fit” his head.

• Ryan Getzlaf looking up before a faceoff and yelling to Jonathan Ericsson “You’re not scary!”

• Did Pascal Dupuis call for “a [Mike] Bossy up the wall?”

• Bobby Ryan’s subtle “it’s comin’ Jimmy” to Jimmy Howard as he skates by the crease.

• Erik Karlsson, 2012 Norris Trophy winner, giving P.K. Subban his endorsement in the handshake line for the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.

• And, of course: Daniel Alfredsson leading the cheers in the Sens dressing room.

Good stuff NHL. More of this please.

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