Capitals 3, Penguins 2
WASHINGTON -- Defenseman Matt Niskanen delivered a power-play goal with 6:22 remaining as the Washington Capitals rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Tuesday.
In a hard-fought contest, Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin drew a high sticking penalty with 7:15 left, and the Capitals immediately took advantage, putting pressure on Penguins rookie goalie Matthew Murray. Niskanen boomed one shot from the blue line that Murray fought off, and when Niskanen received the puck once again, he did not miss, scoring his fourth goal of the season.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby made 28 saves to reach the 40-win plateau for the second straight season, including a dramatic save on left winger Carl Hagelin with 32.8 seconds left. The Capitals, who were coming off a loss Sunday to Chicago, still have not dropped back-to-back games in regulation this season, improving to 11-0-1 in such situations.
Pittsburgh struck first when Malkin took a perfect feed from Hagelin and bested both sliding defenseman Dmitry Orlov and Holtby for his 24th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead 6:14 into the first period. The Capitals allowed opponents to score first in eight of their last nine contests.
Early in the second period, Penguins center Sidney Crosby drew the attention of several Capitals defenders after dishing to Olli Maatta, making it easy for the defenseman to find right winger Patric Hornqvist cutting through the slot unchecked. Hornqvist buried his fourth goal in three games, sliding a shot under Holtby's pad to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 advantage.
Just 39 seconds later, Washington center Mike Richards flipped an innocent looking shot on net, but a great screen by right winger Tom Wilson allowed the puck to sneak through Murray and cut the Capitals' deficit to 2-1.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his 20th goal of the season late in the second period for Washington to tie the score at 2-2 heading into the third.
NOTES: Tuesday marked the first of 16 games in March for Pittsburgh, only the ninth time in franchise history the Penguins will play 16 or more games in a calendar month. ... D Mike Weber made his Capitals debut on the third defensive pairing after being acquired in a Feb. 23 deal with Buffalo. Capitals LW Daniel Winnik, acquired from Toronto on Feb. 28, was a scratch. In addition to Winnik, Washington scratched D Taylor Chorney and C Michael Latta. ... G Matthew Murray registered his first start in net for the Penguins since Dec. 30. ... Pittsburgh scratched D Justin Schultz, D Steve Olesky and G Jeff Zatkoff.