Penguins overcome 2-0 deficit to down Capitals in Game 1
WASHINGTON — Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel scored in a 4:49 span to help Pittsburgh erase a two-goal deficit in the third period and the Penguins beat Washington 3-2 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the secondround series.
Showing no panic from allowing a goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov 17 seconds into the game and another to Alex Ovechkin 28 seconds into the third period, the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions took another series lead in typical Penguins fashion.
Playing without injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh naturally fed off Crosby, who had a goal and an assist.
“Right from Sid, he led the way for us and it’s right down the lineup,” said Guentzel, who had a goal and two assists and leads the playoffs with 16 points. “You can’t get down. There’s going to be highs and lows throughout the whole series. You’ve got to stick with it to the end and we were happy to get three and winning the game.”
Matt Murray stopped 32 of 34 shots, keeping the Penguins in the game and maintaining the lead late with a sprawling stick save on Brett Connolly with 2:30 left.
“I thought he was locked in all night long,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He made some big saves for us, especially when they were pressing down the stretch there. … When you get those types of saves, it’s easy to play with some confidence in front of him.”
Washington blew a two-goal lead for the fourth time in seven games in these playoffs, but players felt they handled this better than in the first round against Columbus.
“Those three shifts, they score,” said Kuznetsov, whose goal was the second-fastest in Capitals playoff history. “I feel like they got momentum, and then they score again and again.”
A handful of mistakes were enough to put the Penguins up going into Game 2 Sunday afternoon.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, SHARKS 0
Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Tuch scored first-period goals as host Las Vegas went on to rout San Jose in Game 1 of the second-round series.
The first-year franchise is 5-0 in the postseason. Las Vegas goalie MarcAndre Fleury was perfect on 33 shots for his second consecutive shutout and third in the playoffs.
Shea Theodore scored at 3:28 of the second to put Las Vegas ahead 5-0. Colin Miller and James Neal added goals in the third.