WASHINGTON (AP) After the Capitals scored early
Danton Heinen Jersey Kids , the Penguins scored often to stun their rivals with yet another comeback.Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel
scored in a 4:49 span to help Pittsburgh erase a two-goal deficit in the third
period and the Penguins beat Washington 3-2 on Thursday night in Game 1 of the
second-round series.Showing no panic from allowing a goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov 17
seconds into the game and another to Alex Ovechkin 28 seconds into the third
period, the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions took another series
lead in typical Penguins fashion.Playing without injured forwards Evgeni Malkin
and Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh naturally fed off Crosby, who had a goal and an
assist.”Right from Sid, he led the way for us and it’s right down the lineup,”
said Guentzel, who had a goal and two assists and leads the playoffs with 16
points. ”You can’t get down. There’s going to be highs and lows throughout the
whole series. You’ve got to stick with it to the end and we were happy to get
three and end up winning the game.”Matt Murray stopped 32 of 34 shots, keeping
the Penguins in the game and maintaining the lead late with a sprawling stick
save on Brett Connolly with 2:30 left. Unsure of what would happen at the other
end of the rink with Braden Holtby dialed in, Murray could only keep the puck
out as much as possible after allowing the early-period goals to Kuznetsov and
Ovechkin.Murray denied Michal Kempny from point-blank range and kept the puck
out from a hard-charging Devante Smith-Pelly early and missed no opportunity to
give the Penguins the impressive stop when they needed it.”I thought he was
locked in all night long,” coach Mike Sullivan said. ”He made some big saves for
us, especially when they were pressing down the stretch there. … When you get
those types of saves, it’s easy to play with some confidence in front of
him.”Murray couldn’t predict a furious comeback, but he wasn’t shocked, either.
Not after Pittsburgh has won nine consecutive playoff series dating to 2016,
including two against these Capitals.”There’s going to be good things that
happen out there and there’s going to be bad things that happen out there,”
Murray said. ”It’s about how you respond. We did a good job of that.”The
Capitals gave the Penguins a couple of solid punches in the series opener but
didn’t respond well when some bounces went against them early in the third. A
deflection goal by Hornqvist
Authentic Mitchell Marner Jersey , a puck that went off Ovechkin’s stick to Crosby and then a redirection by Guentzel took the air out of the building and
ruined a strong start by Holtby.”Obviously, some things we’d like to work on,”
said Holtby, who stopped all 17 shots through two periods before allowing three
on eight in the third. ”Same time, their goals they scored, they were kind of
strange plays, especially the last one. It was one of those that’s just a weird
bounce.”Washington blew a two-goal lead for the fourth time in seven games in
these playoffs, but players felt they handled this better than situations in the
first round against Columbus.”Those three shifts, they score,” said Kuznetsov,
whose goal was the second-fastest in Capitals playoff history. ”I feel like they
got momentum, and then they score again and again.”As even as the play was, a
handful of mistakes were enough to put the Penguins up going into Game 2 Sunday
afternoon. Sullivan already sees opportunities to cut down on chances against,
and his players think they can be better as the series goes on.”It’s one game,
we did some good things,” Crosby said. ”I think in any playoff series, it’s just
about getting better with every game.”NOTES: The Capitals have killed 18
consecutive penalties dating to Game 2 against Columbus. ..
http://www.officialmapleleafsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-morgan-rielly-jersey , Malkin skated Thursday morning with teammates, while Hagelin did not make the
trip. Malkin could be an option for Game 2 if his apparent leg injury has healed
enough.— CHICAGO (AP) The Anaheim Ducks are in the playoff hunt heading into the
final part of the season despite a couple of injuries to key players throughout
the year.Without Adam Henrique, they would be in major trouble.Henrique snapped
a tie with his 18th goal 8:34 into the third period, and the Ducks handed the
Chicago Blackhawks their eighth straight loss with a 3-2 victory on Thursday
night.Article continues below ...”I thought the guys did a great job sticking
with it in the third, even when we were under pressure,” Henrique said. ”A lot
of big blocked shots and a lot of big plays that usually get overlooked, but are
big plays for the win.”The 28-year-old Henrique has 14 goals, including six
game-winners, and eight assists in 34 games since he was acquired in a Nov. 30
trade with New Jersey. He has adjusted to a couple different roles as injured
players have returned to the Ducks.”He’s a real smart player and we feel very,
very fortunate to have him,” coach Randy Carlyle said.Ondrej Kase had a goal and
two assists and John Gibson made 42 saves as Anaheim improved to 1-1 on a
four-game trip. Nick Ritchie added a goal and an assist.The Ducks (28-20-11) had
dropped two in a row and four of six, hurting their playoff positioning as they
try to secure a postseason spot in the Western Conference.”It was huge win for
us,” Ritchie said. ”Obviously not a perfect game, but we’ll take the two
points.”Kase found a wide-open Henrique in front, and he beat Anton Forsberg to
lift Anaheim to a 3-2 lead. Chicago pulled Forsberg for an extra attacker with
about 2:15 left, but Gibson made a great stop on Brandon Saad to help the Ducks
hold on during the frantic final minutes.Duncan Keith scored his first goal of
the season for last-place Chicago (24-26-8), which has lost seven in a row at
home. Saad also snapped a long scoring drought
Nikita Zaitsev Jersey Kids , and Forsberg made 29 stops.”I think we just made too many mistakes,” Saad said. ”We had some good minutes, but we’re giving
up too many chances, breakaways, things like that.”The eight-game slide for the
once-mighty Blackhawks is their longest losing streak since they dropped nine in
a row in early 2012.”It just seems like it’s the way it’s been going. If we give
up a goal, it seems we get down on ourselves or something, I don’t know,” Keith
said. ”It kind of snowballs. There’s where we kind of have to dig in and bear
down and battle a little bit harder.”Chicago jumped in front on its fourth power
play of the game. With Cam Fowler in the penalty box for tripping Alex
DeBrincat, Keith drove a long slap shot by a screened Gibson on the glove side
1:45 into the second period.It was the first goal for Keith since March 16 at
Ottawa. The two-time Norris Trophy winner has just 26 points after he had six
goals and 47 assists last season.Saad then finished off a pretty give-and-go
with Vinnie Hinostroza at 9:12, tapping it in at the net for his 14th of the
season. Saad had no goals and one assist in his previous 16 games.But Anaheim
responded with goals on back-to-back shots midway through the period. Ritchie
put a backhander into the upper corner on Forsberg’s glove side 41 seconds after
Saad scored, and Kase finished off a breakaway with another nice backhander for
the tying goal at 12:18.Chicago got another power play after Blackhawks forward
Ryan Hartman creased Jakob Silfverberg with a big hit with about two minutes
left in the second, prompting Anaheim’s Josh Manson to start a fight with
Hartman. But the Ducks killed it off, part of a 1-for-5 night with the man
advantage for the Blackhawks.NOTES: Chicago recalled G Jean-Francois Berube from
Rockford of AHL and assigned goalie Jeff Glass to its top minor league
affiliate. The 26-year-old Berube made one appearance with the Blackhawks
earlier this season, stopping 12 of 14 shots on Dec. 6 at Washington. … The
Blackhawks traded minor-league D Ville Pokka to Ottawa for center Chris
DiDomenico, who will report to Rockford.UP NEXTDucks: Visit Minnesota on
Saturday.Blackhawks: Host Washington on Saturday night.—Jay Cohen can be reached
at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap—
