Capitals 4, Penguins 1
PITTSBURGH -- Right winger T.J. Oshie scored twice in the third period and the hot Washington Capitals spoiled Mike Sullivan's debut as Pittsburgh's coach, beating the Penguins 4-1 on Monday night.
Center Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on both Oshie goals during a three-point night, and defenseman John Carlson scored in the opening 7:04. Goaltender Braden Holtby -- who has not allowed more than two goals in his last seven starts -- made the lead hold up with 44 saves.
The Capitals (21-6-2) won for the ninth time in their last 11 games and are 10-3-1 on the road.
Sullivan, the Boston Bruins' coach from 2003-06, didn't make many noticeable changes after replacing Mike Johnston 28 games into the season. But the Penguins clearly were pressing more offensively. They had 31 shots in the first two periods and a season-high 45 overall as the NHL's No. 26 scoring unit tries to generate more goals from stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Crosby, who has only six goals in 29 games, did not score, but Malkin found the net for the second game in a row for Pittsburgh's only goal.
Oshie, who scored his ninth goal of the season 8:50 into the third, made an impact with his stick and his shoulder in only the fourth Capitals win in their last 14 games in Pittsburgh.
Penguins right wing Beau Bennett did not return after a shoulder check by Oshie drove him into the boards late in the first period.
Pittsburgh was 0-for-2 on the power play and is 0-for-11 in its last five games. The Penguins are 10-20-5 in Metropolitan Division games over the last two seasons, including 1-3-1 this season.
No Penguins coach who took over the team with the season already started has won his debut since Rick Kehoe in 2001.
The NHL's top two scorers over the past 10 years, Washington left winger Alex Ovechkin and Crosby, were on the ice, but neither figured in the early scoring.
The Capitals, who came in 14-1-2 when scoring the initial goal, did exactly that 3:53 in on Backstrom's hard wrist shot from between the circles that beat goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the glove side. Oshie created the goal by skating hard into the Penguins' zone, stopping abruptly and dropping a pass to Backstrom, who scored his 10th goal.
Carlson made it 2-0 just over three minutes later, putting in a rebound of his own miss along the left circle for his fifth goal. He was left undefended following his initial miss.
Malkin cut the Washington lead in half with just over six minutes left in the period, getting his 14th goal on a redirection of defenseman Ben Lovejoy's shot from the top of the right circle.
Both goalies, Fleury and Holtby, made strong saves in the second period. Fleury made a glove-hand stop to halt right winger Stanislav Galiev's breakaway, and Holtby turned aside right winger Patric Hornqvist's in-close attempt set up by Crosby.
NOTES: New Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is assuming control of the NHL's 27th-ranked power play, a responsibility previously held by assistant Rick Tocchet. Offensively, Sullivan wants more breakouts from the defensive zone to create off-man rushes and more scoring chances. ... Newly retired Pascal Dupuis, who spent nine seasons as a Penguins forward, plans to discuss a role in the organization with GM Jim Rutherford. ... Former Capitals C Eric Fehr, now with Pittsburgh, opposed his former team for the first time. ... Sullivan didn't make any pregame lineup changes in his first game as coach. ... Penguins D Kris Letang (upper-body injury) missed a second successive game. Also out was Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower-body injury), the former Penguins player who is on the injured reserve list. ... The Capitals scratched RW Chris Brown, C Michael Latta and D Aaron Ness. Pittsburgh held out D Rob Scuderi.