Penguins clobber Capitals to take 2-0 series lead
WASHINGTON -- Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel each had two goals and an assist, Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.
Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cullen each had a goal and an assist, and Sidney Crosby had two assists as Pittsburgh won despite again being outshot, this time by a 36-24 margin.
After winning twice away from home, the Penguins will host Game 3 Monday night.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist for Washington, which has yet to lead in the series despite a huge edge in shot attempts. Matt Niskanen added a goal and Alex Ovechkin had two assists.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby was pulled after allowing three goals on 14 shots over the first two periods. Philipp Grubauer started the third period in goal, and Kessel beat him for a power-play goal at 2:19 to make it 4-1.
Moments later Washington got one back when Backstrom scored on Ovechkin's rebound at 3:44.
But Pittsburg made it 5-2 at 5:31. Malkin's deflection was initially waved off for goaltender interference, but the Penguins challenged and the call was overturned.
Guentzel added an empty netter for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Grubauer stopped six of eight shots.
Penguins forward Carl Hagelin, who had been out with a lower body injury, played for the first time since March 10.
The Capitals, after a slow start in Game 1, dominated the scoreless first period, building a 16-5 lead in shots on goal.
Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist left the ice in obvious pain after blocking a John Carlson shot late in the period. He went back to the locker room and did not return.
In the second period, with the Capitals on the power play, Cullen blocked Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the point, poked the puck away from Shattenkirk and came in on Holtby ahead of the defense. Despite being hooked by T.J. Oshie, Cullen slid the puck through the five hole for a short-handed goal and a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead.
Then, with Washington still on the power play, Niskanen was left all alone in the slot and beat Fleury on a one-timer off a pass from Ovechkin.
The Penguins regained the lead at 13:04 when Crosby entered the zone and, with a trio of defenders closing on him, fed across to Kessel in the right circle. Kessel's wrister went off Holtby's arm and in on Pittsburgh's 12th shot of the game.
Guentzel made it 3-1 with 3:46 left in the period when he kept the puck on a two-on-one and fired under Holtby's glove from the right circle for his sixth goal of the playoffs.
The play started when Crosby blocked a Justin Williams shot and got the puck to Guentzel while down on the ice.
NOTES: To make room for F Carl Hagelin's return, Pittsburgh F Scott Wilson was a scratch. ... Washington D Karl Alzner (upper body injury) missed his sixth straight game. ... The Capitals made one lineup change, inserting RW Paul Carey on the fourth line and scratching RW Brett Connolly. ... With his two assists, C Sidney Crosby (148) moved ahead of Jaromir Jagr (147) for second place on the team's all-time postseason points list. ... Pittsburgh F Chris Kunitz passed Mario Lemieux for fifth place on the team's all-time postseason games played list with 108. ... Capitals RW T.J. Oshie had an assist and has earned nine points (three goals, six assists) in eight games this postseason.