Penguins push back, even series
Jake Guentzel scored twice to push his playoff total to a league-leading 10, Matt Murray stopped 20 shots and the Penguins beat theWashington Capitals 3-1 in Game 4 to even their tense Eastern Conference semifinal on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Evgeni Malkin added his fourth goal of the playoffs for Pittsburgh as the twotime defending Stanley Cup champions pushed back following a chaotic Game 3 that included an illegal hit byWashington forward Tom Wilson that led to a threegame suspension.
T. J. Oshie scored for the Capitals, but Washington struggled to find much operating room.
Alex Ovechkin failed to register a shot on goal for just the third time in 107 career playoff games. Braden Holtby finished with 21 saves but couldn’t quite get a handle on Malkin’s bellyflop shot attempt late in the second period that put Pittsburgh in front to stay.
Game 5 is Saturday night inWashington.
The Capitals grabbed brief control of the series amid all of the Wilson-led Game 3 chippiness when Ovechkin baseball-batted home the winning goal with 1:07 to play.
True playoff momentum for Washington, however, has been problematic for decades. The franchise is 6-11 in series in which it led 2-1 after three games, the worst mark in NHL history.
PREDATORS 2, JETS 1 » Pekka Rinne made 32 saves, P.K. Subban and Ryan Hartman scored and the Nashville Predators held off a late charge by the Jets to win in Winnipeg and even their second-round series through four games.
Patrik Laine scored off a faceoff in the final minute, but Nashville’s Nick Bonino won two key faceoffs after that to end it.
Game 5 will be Saturday in Nashville, with Game 6 set for Winnipeg on Monday. Game 7, if necessary, would be in Nashville next Thursday.
Connor Hel lebuyck stopped 27 shots, but Nashville snapped Winnipeg’s 13game home winning streak, which dated to March 2.
Rinne allowed five goals amid a series of defensive miscues in a 7-4 Game 3 defeat. He rebounded impressively behind a team that wasmuchsharper inits own end.
The Jets found far less space in the neutral zone, but also saw a couple of golden opportunities bounce over their sticks.
The Predators led 1-0 after the first period and stretched their lead with 5:24 left in the second when Subban blasted a one-timer on Nashville’s first power play.
It was Subban’s third goal of the series after being held without one in the first round.