Penguins defeat top seed Capitals

PITTSBURGH — Patric Hornqvist and Tom Kuhnhackl scored a minute apart in the first period, Matt Murray stopped 47 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins took control of their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal with a 3- 2 victory in Game 3 on Monday.

Carl Hagelin added his third goal of the playoffs for Pittsburgh, which took a 2- 1 lead in the best- of- seven series on another contentious night guaranteed to keep the NHL player safety office busy. Two days after Washington’s Brooks Orpik earned a three- game suspension for an illegal hit on Pittsburgh’s Olli Maatta, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang took a shot at Capitals forward Marcus Johansson sure to be reviewed before Wednesday’s Game 4.

Alexander Ovechkin and Justin Williams scored in the third, but the Capitals find themselves in a deficit against a franchise they have beaten just once in eight previous playoff meetings.

Pittsburgh’s depth at the blue line could be tested in Game 4 after Letang made a run at Johansson that had some of the hallmarks of the elbow Orpik threw at Maatta. Johansson was skating into the offensive zone when he was headed off by four Penguins. The puck was steered away and long gone by the time Letang turned toward Johansson and launched himself into the forward. Letang earned a penalty for interference and Johansson remained on the ice

for several moments before skating away.

Unlike Maatta, Johansson returned. By then, however, the Capitals were already on their heels after the Penguins counterattacked brilliantly. Sidney Crosby keyed a rush that ended with Conor Sheary chasing down a blocked shot in the corner and feeding it to Trevor Daley at the point. Hornqvist reached out and expertly smacked the puck off the ice, allowing it to skid right by Holtby to give Pittsburgh a 1- 0 lead 6: 37 into the game.

A minute later Washington’s deficit doubled when Nicklas Backstrom whiffed while trying to intercept Letang’s long stretch pass to Cullen. The ensuing 2- on- 1 ended with the puck smacking off Kuhnhackl’s back and into the net, making it 2- 0.

Nate Schmidt opened the door for the Penguins to make it 3- 0 late in the second period, flipping a blind backhand pass deep in the Washington end into the slot. Two passes later Hagelin was tipping in a slick feed from Nick Bonino, who drew Holtby out, and then tucked the puck around the sprawled goaltender to Hagelin in front of the open net.