Penguins rally past Capitals 3-2

Penguins have won nine in a row under coach Sullivan

Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel scored in a 4:49 span of the third period to help the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to for a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.

Down 2-0 and playing without Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh turned it around with all three of its top-line forwards chipping in a goal. Crosby scored the tying goal when the puck bounced to him off Alex Ovechkin’s stick, and assisted on Guentzel’s goahead goal.

Matt Murray stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced to put the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions ahead in yet another series with Game 2 on Sunday in Washington. The Penguins have won nine in a row under coach Mike Sullivan dating to 2016, including the past two meetings against Washington. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 17 seconds in and Ovechkin beat Murray 28 seconds into the third period for the Capitals, who lost a game started by Braden Holtby for the first time in these playoffs.