STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Penguins 3, Capitals 2

The Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to survive without injured star Sidney Crosby.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots and rookie Jake Guentzel took advantage of a fortunate bounce for his playoff-leading eighth goal and the defending Stanley Cup champions held off Washington on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Justin Schultz scored in a second straight game and Patric Hornqvist picked up his third of the postseason as Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Penguins played without Crosby, who is out indefinitely with a concussion suffered in Game 3.

Pittsburgh has a chance to eliminate the Capitals in Game 5 on Saturday in Washington. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nate Schmidt scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby finished with 15 saves, but Washington failed to even the series despite controlling play for long stretches.

Late Tuesday Predators 2, Blues 1

James Neal scored the game-winning goal with 6:57 left, and Nashville beat St. Louis to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

Pekka Rinne outdueled St. Louis' Jake Allen with 32 saves, and the Predators are a victory away from reaching the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.

Ryan Ellis scored at 5:09 of the third to break up a scoreless game. Neal then scored with 6:57 left to crank up the Nashville celebration as the Predators won their eighth straight playoff game at home.