Most Dramatic Moments of the Week

Another week, another round of exciting and dramatic sports events that keep us hooked even in the brutal dead of winter.

The NBA had a nearly week-long hiatus as All-Star Game festivities dominated last weekend, but college basketball more than made up for their professional brethren's absence. 

Here are the most dramatic moments in sports from the past week.

Pittsburgh-Washington Gets Heated

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are two of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, and they seemed to revitalize their rivalry a bit on Tuesday night.

It all started when Alex Ovechkin hacked Kris Letang, sending the defenseman to the locker room and heightening the intensity and bitterness between the teams.

Ovechkin had a breakaway goal in the first period to put Washington up, and then Joel Ward scored on the power play in the third period to regain Washington's lead with just over four minutes remaining. 

But the animosity between the two teams was evident throughout and especially late, with a number of boarding and roughing penalties and an incredible 10 total third-period penalties. 

Gordon-Foles Report

USA TODAY Sports

Everyone needs their football fix in here, and this is some real-life NFL soap-opera drama! 

Phil Sheridan of ESPN dropped a gossip bomb this past week when he announced that the Philadelphia Eagles turned down a Nick Foles-Josh Gordon trade back before the 2013 season.

This is a really fascinating case, with Foles and Gordon both having tremendous 2013 seasons and then falling off in 2014. It's crazy to think how much the NFL landscape could have been changed with a deal like this.

How would this have ended up for each team and player? We'll never know, but it is pretty fun to speculate.

WVU-Kansas Down to the Wire

West Virginia and Kansas have played in so many phenomenal games over the years, but their matchup on Monday was one for the ages.

West Virginia started out hot and took a three-point lead into halftime. The two teams went back and forth throughout the second half before things came down to the wire.

After dealing with leg cramps, Juwan Staten made an incredible spin move and layup with a mere four seconds left to put West Virginia up by two. 

Kansas, however, regrouped quickly and got the ball down the court for a running breakaway layup that somehow didn't go in and gave West Virginia a heart-stopping victory in front of their crazed home crowd.

Flames Win with 2 Seconds Left

The Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins are hardly rivals, but they competed like old foes on Monday night.

The Flames have looked particularly resilient this season, and that came through yet again as they stole a victory from Boston in dramatic fashion.

They found themselves down 3-0 in the second period before scoring three consecutive times, with the second two coming in the third period.

Boston battled back in overtime and the two teams went at it for four minutes and 58 seconds before TJ Brodie scored a nice game-winner with a mere two seconds left in overtime.

NBA Trade Deadline Blows Up

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Things got crazy on Thursday afternoon leading up to the NBA trade deadline. After the dust settled, there was a whole lot to digest.

Goran Dragic went to the Miami Heat, and Kevin Garnett headed back home to Minnesota. But neither of these deals even came close to the biggest deal of the day that happened right at the deadline.

Brandon Knight ended up in Phoenix, Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis, and Miles Plumlee ended up in Milwaukee, Isaiah Thomas ended up in Boston, and the Sixers ended up with yet another first-round draft pick.

It's always exciting when these big moves are made, and especially when so much changes all in a short period of time.

Oklahoma Rallies Against Texas

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

Big 12 rivals Texas and Oklahoma usually reserve their biggest battles for the football field, but the hoops squads put on quite a show on Monday night.

No. 17 Oklahoma is having a solid season, but they were tested at every step against the pesky Longhorns. They took a mere one-point lead into the second half, and Texas pulled out to a lead with under six minutes remaining.

But the Sooners stayed strong and rallied back with multiple clutch shots, including some big free throws with just seconds remaining to put the game out of reach and come out with a 71-69 victory.

Blackhawks and Penguins Need Shootout

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The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks have been two of the best and exciting NHL teams of the past five or six years, and they proved why on Sunday afternoon.

While the scoring stayed tight thanks to some tremendous goaltending, the two teams kept constant pressure in each zone and traded chances all game.

Chicago broke through in the second period, and Pittsburgh responded early in the third. The two teams needed overtime, and even that wasn't enough to separate them.

The Blackhawks then went an impressive three-for-three in the shootout, with Patrick Sharp providing the final blow to give his team a big two points.

Duke-UNC Classic

Everyone always expects a great game when North Carolina and Duke meet in basketball, but this past Wednesday's game was truly something special.

No. 15 UNC went in as the underdog against No. 4 Duke, but the two teams looked absolutely equally matched for all 40 minutes of regulation.

Duke was actually the ones who needed a late rally to force overtime, with freshman Tyus Jones scoring nine straight points to help the Blue Devils.

Jahlil Okafor and Quinn Cook joined Jones by turning in clutch overtime performances and help lead their team to a thrilling 92-90 overtime victory that has to go down as the most dramatic college basketball game thus far.