Sullivan adjusts; series won

Few are more qualified to speak on handling adverse circumstances than Fleury, who had his job taken by a kid in Matt Murray, then was thrust into duty just minutes before the start of the playoffs when Murray got hurt.

And on this night, when Murray dressed as his backup — a not-so-subtle reminder that the clock could strike midnight at any time — Fleury did not let this Cinderella story end.

Instead, he pushed the Penguins on to the next round, turning the Washington Capitals into the Penguins’ version of the Washington Generals.

“Flower’s been our best player the whole playoffs,” said Patric Hornqvist, who added a key insurance goal in the third.

Now, the Penguins will play the Ottawa Senators in the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the series likely to start Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins and Capitals have now met 10 times in the postseason. The Penguins have won nine times, including that 2009 Eastern Conference semifinal that Fleury helped win and Rust only casually watched, too consumed by what Detroit was doing.

The Capitals, who haven’t been past this point since 1998, have now lost seven of 10 Game 7s during the Ovechkin Era.

The Penguins, meanwhile, improved to 6-0 in Game 7s on the road and 4-0 all-time in Game 7s against Washington.

Count Rust and Fleury among the reasons, but don’t forget a lock-down third period, when the Penguins allowed just six shots on goal.

And make sure to remember a few tactical adjustments coach Mike Sullivan made at practice Tuesday.

Defensemen jumped into the play with greater urgency. Breakouts improved. The Penguins rolled those two things, along with a better speed game, into sustained offensive pressure.

“Nobody was happy with how we played at home there in front of our fans in Game 6,” Hornqvist said. “They were all over us like we were in the third period to them.

“I think we played a really strong game, but in the third we really took over.”

So many highlights in this one, but the one you’ll see the most transpired at 16:08 of the third period. Fleury stoned Alex Ovechkin on a one-time attempt from the slot with the shaft of his stick. Afterward, Fleury flashed his signature grin, the smile poking through his mask, as he rubbed the shaft of his stick.

“I didn’t see [Ovechkin],” Fleury recalled. “When [Tom Wilson] made the pass, I just tried to get across as quick as possible, get something there. Fortunately enough to get a little piece.”

And then he had a conversation with his stick.

“I said, ‘ Thank you. Good job,’ ” Fleury said.

That stick wasn’t alone on this night in terms of good jobs done, as the Penguins cracked the ruler across the Capitals’ knuckles once more.

Little plays from the defense salvaged a series that was hardly the group’s best.

Things like Ian Cole’s keep-in on Rust’s goal, a one-timer snipe where Jake Guentzel flashed a ton of poise and patience with the puck. And, later, Justin Schultz stepped up on Ovechkin to cause the turnover that led to Hornqvist’s tally.

But nobody disrupted what was supposed to be a cathartic scene in Washington more than Fleury. He, was joined Wednesday by Rust, who shouldered his way into this rivalry in a Big Goal Bryan sort of way, scoring in yet another elimination game.