Penguins erase 2-goal hole, top Caps in opener
Jake Guentzel assisted on two goals and then scored the game-winner in less than five minutes of the third period as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins wiped out a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals Thursday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Game 2 is Sunday in Washington, with Pittsburgh gunning for a 2-0 series lead and its 10th series victory in 11 playoff meetings with the Capitals.
Stifled for the first two periods by goalie Braden Holtby and Washington's tight defense, the Penguins showed why they have won two consecutive Stanley Cups.
Patric Hornqvist drew Pittsburgh within 2-1 at 2:59 of the third when he deflected Justin Schultz's wrister from the right point past Holtby for his third goal of the playoffs.
Sidney Crosby evened the score at 5:20 with his seventh postseason marker, taking a Guentzel pass and ripping a one-timer through the pads of Holtby as the crowd at Capital One Arena suddenly grew pensive.
Guentzel gave the fans more reason for worry at 7:48 when he deflected Crosby's shot from the left circle over Holtby's shoulder for his seventh playoff goal.
Goalie Matt Murray helped lock it down from there, finishing with 32 saves, including one directly off his mask off an Alex Ovechkin blast with just over six minutes left. Murray also came up with a sprawling stop on Brett Connelly's point-blank chance on a rebound with just under 2 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Capitals played with a lead virtually from the start. A missed defensive coverage by Guentzel permitted a breakaway chance for Evgeny Kuznetsov 17 seconds into the game. Kuznetsov roofed a wrister over Murray's glove.
That was the only scoring until Ovechkin made it 2-0 just 28 seconds into the third period, beating Murray with a laser from the left circle for his sixth goal of the playoffs.
But as has so often been the case in the postseason, Pittsburgh found a way to break Washington's heart.
Holtby stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced.
--Field Level Media