Ovechkin scores late goal to lift Capitals

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

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 baseball-like swat gave him eight goals in the playoffs and the Capitals their fourth consecutive road win in the postseason.

Ovechkin has also scored in four consecutive playoff games this postseason.

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

Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. 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.

Matt Murray made 18 stops but couldn’t get his glove — a problem area all postseason — 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 the Capitals’ Tom Wilson for his high hit in Game 2 on Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who went into the league’s concussion protocol after Wilson blindsided him while Dumoulin braced for a collision with a charging Ovechkin.

Blake Wheeler scored on the power play with 4:59 remaining and the Jets roared back from an early 3-0 deficit to grab a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.

After missing on a number of earlier chances, the Jets captain connected on a rebound off Mark Scheifele’s shot from a tight angle for his second of the postseason.

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 emptynetter with under a minute to play.

Brandon Tanev also scored with Rinne on the bench in the game’s final minute.

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