In terms of big events, Wednesday night didn’t quite stack up with June 17, 1994 but it was one of the most exciting sports nights in recent memory.
Between Kobe Bryant‘s final NBA game, a record-setting performance from the Golden State Warriors, three NHL playoff games (including an overtime), and a full of slate of baseball, there was so much to watch on television, it was hard to pick what to focus on.
I happen to have two 50-inch HD TVs in my apartment so it was an ideal setup but if you (like most sane people) only have one, you might’ve got tired flipping between channels.
So since I stayed up to catch the end of the Warriors game and the Kobe festivities, here’s a list of seven of the biggest events from what turned out to be an epic television night:
Kobe drops 60 in final game: It’s crazy that anything could overshadow the Warriors’ game but Kobe Bryant stole the show the last NBA game of his storied career. It was non-stop entertainment and just so Kobe as Bryant hucked up 50 shots (!) to score a whopping 60 points to wrap up his farewell tour, despite not playing any defence at all.
Warriors get win No. 73: Golden State set the record for all-time wins in a single season with a blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. To be honest, the game lack any real intrigue as the Warriors just dominated from the start but Steph Curry provided more than enough excitement with 46 points in 30 minutes. Curry made 10 3-pointers to finish the season with 402 in total, a wild number considering no one had made as many as 300 before this season.
Blues beat Blackhawks in OT: The Blackhawks thoroughly outplayed St. Louis in Game 1, but Blues goaltender Brian Elliott stole the game with a 35-save shutout before David Backes potted the overtime winner on a lucky bounce.
Lightning edge out Red Wings in slugfest: Of all the NHL games, this one excited me the least entering the night but my initial thoughts proved to be way off. It was a chippy game with tons of skirmishes, exciting goals (even a disallowed one on a replay review) and back-forth excitement in the opening game of the series.
Penguins power past Rangers with backup goalie: Without starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh got a great performance from backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff and forward Patric Hornqvist, who scored a hat trick in a 5-2 Game 1 win. The upsetting part: star Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist left after the first period after taking a stick to the eye.
Blue Jays beat Yankees, Venditte pitches!: In the grand scheme of things, a April baseball game hardly matches up with an NHL playoff game or a historic night on the basketball schedule, but Blue Jays fans had some things to be excited about as the offence woke up a little bit and switch pitcher (and fan favourite) Pat Venditte made his Toronto debut in a clean ninth inning in a 7-2 win.
Lillard sets Blazers’ third-point record: Okay this is just an individual accomplishment in an otherwise meaningless game (similar to Kobe), but we give some due to Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard after he took over sole possession of the franchise record for career three-pointers made.