The Heartbreak Kid was in the house Sunday night for Game 5 of the NHL Eastern Conference final.
Shawn Michaels, known as The Heartbreak Kid during his career in World Wrestling Entertainment, was a guest of the Pittsburgh Penguins for their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins' third line -- Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel -- is known as the HBK line.
Michaels sat near the glass with former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. Before the game, Michaels and Keisel had dinner at one of Pittsburgh's famed restaurants, the Primanti Bros. sandwich shop. Primanti rolled out a new sandwich called the HBK sandwich -- the H for ham, B for bacon and K for kielbasa.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby said before Sunday's game he was a fan of Michaels.
"I liked Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, but I was also a Shawn Michaels fan," Crosby told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "That would have been right around the time I was following it. He was in his prime then. It's kind of cool. That kind of stuff kind of develops out of nowhere. It's fun. I think that line is playing great. It's pretty cool they've been able to set something up there."
The Penguins lost 4-3 to the Lightning in overtime Sunday to fall behind 3-2 in the series. Hagelin had an assist at Patric Hornqvist's goal that gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Despite the loss, Michaels said he enjoyed his visit to Pittsburgh.
"I know it wasn't a victory Pittsburgh but I can't thank you enough for the unbelievably gracious hospitality that you showed me today & tonight. THANK YOU!!" Michaels tweeted.
Have a catch
Some New York Mets fans may not like Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer since he plays for their biggest National League East rival.
But one Mets fan will always appreciate Scherzer.
According to Newsday, Scherzer took some time out of his warm-up routine before Wednesday's game at Citi Field in New York to play catch with a young Mets fan in the stands.
Joe La Rocca, a Mets fan from Brooklyn, posted the video to his Twitter account Thursday morning of his 11-year-old son, also named Joe, playing catch with the Nationals pitcher from the left-field stands. At the end of the video, the younger Joe La Rocca calls the moment "amazing" and said, "I'm not giving this ball away. There's no way."
Scherzer had pitched in last Tuesday's series opener, allowing 2 runs and striking out 10 in 61/3 innings, as the Mets won 2-0.
The elder La Rocca, 50, told Newsday he and his son go to about 20 Mets games per season.
Sports on 05/24/2016