Fleury stays hot, Penguins up 2-0

Canadiens get even with Rangers; Blues go home ahead 2-0

Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, MarcAndre Fleury stayed sharp in his second straight playoff start, and the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled away for a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series in Pittsburgh.

Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal of the postseason, and Patric Hornqvist pushed in an empty-net goal.

Fleury finished with 39 saves while filling in for the injured Matt Murray Fleury was thrust into the lineup with barely 20 minutes to prepare after Murray was a late scratch before Game 1 with a lower-body injury — and responded with a 31-save masterpiece. Murray is out indefinitely, returning Fleury to the spot he held for a decade while becoming the winningest goaltender in franchise history. Game 3 is Sunday night in Columbus, Ohio. Canadiens 4, Rangers 3: Alexander Radulov scored at 18:34 of overtime to give Montreal a split of the first two games. Radulov jammed the puck in from the edge of the crease after a feed from Max Pacioretty. The victory was the first for a Canadian team in the playoffs since 2015. Game 3 is Sunday night in New York. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Canadiens pressed hard and finally scored with 18 seconds left, with goalie Carey Price pulled for an extra attacker. Tomas Plekanec redirected Radulov’s feed past goalie Henrik Lundqvist to force overtime.

Blues 2, Wild 1: Jaden Schwartz scored with 2:27 remaining during a 4-on4 situation, and St. Louis goes home with a 2-0 lead in the first-round series. The series shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 on Sunday. Bruins: Already missing defensemen Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo and center David Krejci, banged-up Boston could also be without defenseman Colin Miller, who was injured in Game 1 against the Senators. Joe Morrow could take his place. Blackhawks: Chicago coach Joel Quenneville isn’t wasting time making changes, replacing Nick Schmaltz on the top line with Ryan Hartman, who is expected to play with Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik. The Blackhawks are trying to solve Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne, who stopped all 29 shots he faced to steal Game 1 for the Predators.