Late Ovechkin goal gives Capitals lead on Penguins

PITTSBURGH — Alex Ovechkin knocked his own rebound out of midair and by Matt Murray with 1:07 remaining to lift the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night in Game 3 of their increasingly testy Eastern Conference semifinal series with Pittsburgh.

Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-1 series lead when he collected a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and fired a shot that ripped by Murray before hitting the right post.

Ovechkin stayed with it and his baseballlike swat gave him eight goals in the playoffs and the Capitals their fourth consecutive road win in the post-season.

Ovechkin has also scored in four consecutive playoff games this post-season.

Matt Niskanen, John Carlson and Chandler Stephenson also scored for Washing- ton. Braden Holtby finished with 19 saves. Backstrom had three assists.

Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist also scored, but the Penguins lost consecutive playoff games for only the fourth time since the start of their runs to consecutive Stanley Cups began in 2016.

Murray made 18 stops but couldn’t get his glove – a problem area all post-season – on Ovechkin’s initial shot, allowing the Russian star to have a shot at the rebound. Game 4 is Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The game featured a significant uptick in physical play, a byproduct of the pressure and the fallout of the NHL’s decision not to discipline Washington’s Tom Wilson for his high hit in Game 2 on Pittsburgh defenceman Brian Dumoulin, who went into the league’s concussion protocol after Wilson blindsided him while Dumoulin braced for a collision with a charging Ovechkin.

Dumoulin was back in the lineup to start Game 3 and both teams stressed the need to move forward considering so much is at stake. Wilson claimed the hit was “unavoidable” and “an unfortunate hockey play.”

Jets take flight

WINNIPEG (CP) — Blake Wheeler scored on the power play with 4:59 to play as the Winnipeg Jets roared back from an early 3-0 deficit to defeat the Nashville Predators 7-4 on Tuesday and grab a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.

After missing on a number of earlier chances, the Jets captain buried a rebound off a Mark Scheifele shot from a tight angle for his second of the post-season.

Dustin Byfuglien had two goals and an assist for Winnipeg, while Paul Stastny added a goal and two assists.

Wheeler also had an assist and added the empty-netter with under a minute to play. Brandon Tanev also scored with goalie Pekka Rinne on the bench in the game’s final minute.

Jacob Trouba scored one and set up another for a two-point night. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 stops.

Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban each had a goal and an assist for Nashville, while Mike Fisher and Auston Watson also scored.

Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Johansen both chipped in with two assists for the Predators, who got 38 stops from Rinne.