Crosby scores pair to help topple Caps
WASHINGTON — Sidney Crosby scored two goals in 52 seconds and Nick Bonino had the winner in the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the topseeded Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Thursday night.
Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin got much of the buzz heading into the showdown of two of NHL’s best teams, and Ovechkin collected his fourth goal of the playoffs. Evgeny Kuznetsov tied it in the third, but Marc-Andre Fleury made 15 of his 32 saves in the final period to help the defending Stanley Cup champions to the victory.
Crosby was a threat to score just about every time he touched the puck. He beat Braden Holtby with his first two shots of the second period.
Holtby stopped 18 shots, but he allowed Bonino’s goal at 12:36.
Game 2 is Saturday night in Washington.
The Capitals had waited since their Game 6 overtime loss to the Penguins a year ago for another shot at them, and coach Barry Trotz was among many who said it felt right for these teams to meet again. The NHL’s divisional playoff format put the top two teams in the regular season on this crash course to meet in the second round for one of the most anticipated series since, well, last year.
A rocking Verizon Center was electric through a goalless first period, and the sellout crowd got a chance to boo quickly in the second period when Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen lost the puck battle with
Patric Hornqvist in the neutral zone and Crosby finished on a 2-on-1 with Jake Guentzel 12 seconds in.
As public-address announcer Wes Johnson was just finishing announcing that goal, Holtby allowed a juicy rebound off Olli Maatta’s point shot that Hornqvist corralled and fed to Crosby for his second goal of the night. Within the first 64 seconds of the second period, Crosby had as many goals as he had points in the Penguins’ series against the Capitals last year.
SENATORS 2, RANGERS 1: In Ottawa, Erik Karlsson scored on a bad-angle shot with 4:11 left in the third period, sending Ottawa to a victory over New York in the opener of their secondround playoff series.
The Senators’ captain beat fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist from just above the goal line. The shot pinged off Rangers center Derek Stepan before going into the net.
It was Karlsson’s first goal and seventh point of the playoffs. The 26-yearold defenseman, who has been playing with a foot injury, also logged more than 28 minutes in the win.
Game 2 is Saturday in Ottawa.
Ryan McDonagh scored for New York, and Lundqvist finished with 41 saves.
Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots and Ryan Dzingel scored for Ottawa, which eliminated Boston in six games in the first round.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS: As jackpots go in Las Vegas, Nev., George McPhee wouldn’t mind little lady luck being on the side of his Golden Knights expansion franchise when the NHL holds its draft lottery Saturday.
“That would be so like Vegas in its first lottery, winning it,” the Golden Knights general manager told The Associated Press. “That would be something.”
The odds aren’t that bad for a franchise preparing to open its first season in October.
The Golden Knights and desert rival Arizona have each been awarded a 10.3 percent chance of winning the lottery, giving them the third-best shot at landing the No. 1 pick in the draft in June.
The Colorado Avalanche, with an 18 percent chance, have the best odds after finishing with the league’s worst record this season, followed by the Vancouver Canucks (12.1 percent chance).
At worst, the Golden Knights will select no lower than No. 6.
“We’ll go in there having our fingers crossed,” said McPhee, who will attend the lottery drawing in Toronto. McPhee can also attest to knowing how teams with the best odds don’t always win.
He was the Capitals general manager in 2004, when Washington won the lottery by vaulting from third to first to claim the right to draft Alex Ovechkin.