WASHINGTON (AP) Patric Hornqvist
http://www.officialcapitals.com/authentic-adidas-evgeny-kuznetsov-jersey , Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel scored in a 4:49 span of the third period to
help the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to for a 3-2 victory over the Washington
Capitals on Thursday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.Down 2-0 and
playing without Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh turned it around with
all three of its top-line forwards chipping in a goal. Crosby scored the tying
goal when the puck bounced to him off Alex Ovechkin’s stick, and assisted on
Guentzel’s go-ahead goal.Matt Murray stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced to put
the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions ahead in yet another series
with Game 2 on Sunday in Washington. The Penguins have won nine in a row under
coach Mike Sullivan dating to 2016, including the past two meetings against
Washington.Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 17 seconds in and Ovechkin beat Murray 28
seconds into the third period for the Capitals, who lost a game started by
Braden Holtby for the first time in these playoffs.Holtby allowed three goals on
25 shots.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, SHARKS 0LAS VEGAS (AP) – Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33
shots for his third shutout of the playoffs, and the Vegas beat San Jose in Game
1 of the Western Conference semifinals.Cody Eakin, Erik Haula and Jonathan
Marchessault scored 1:31 apart early in the first period to get Vegas going.
Alex Tuch, Shea Theodore, Colin Miller and James Neal also scored, Reilly Smith
and William Karlsson each had three assists, and Marchessault and David Perron
added two each.Fleury, who improved to 5-0 in the playoffs, got his 13th career
shutout in the playoffs – and second straight. He also blanked Los Angeles 1-0
in Game 4 of the first round.The Golden Knights have now outscored opponents
14-3 in five games in the postseason.Sharks goalie Martin Jones, who stopped 128
of 132 shots in the first round against the Ducks
Jakub Vrana Jersey , was pulled a little more than three minutes into the second period after allowing five goals on 13 shots. Backup goalie Aaron Dell
came in and finished with 19 saves. TORONTO (AP) Facing an opponent missing
arguably its best player in front of a raucous home crowd, the Toronto Maple
Leafs felt pretty good heading into their Game 4 matchup with the Boston
Bruins.Less than three hours later, they had been pushed to the brink of playoff
elimination.Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal and Tuukka Rask made 31 saves
as the Bruins defeated the Leafs 3-1 to grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their
first-round series. Boston was minus No. 1 center Patrice Bergeron, who was a
late scratch with an upper-body injury, but it didn’t matter as the Bruins
ground out a victory on a night where some of Toronto’s young stars failed to
produce on the big stage.”We were set up pretty good,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock
lamented. ”We didn’t take advantage. That’s on us.”Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk
had the other goals for the Bruins, who can clinch the Eastern Conference
quarterfinal series at home in Game 5 on Saturday at Boston’s TD Garden. David
Pastrnak added two assists.Tomas Plekanec scored the lone goal for the Leafs,
who got 18 saves from Frederik Andersen.”We gave them opportunities and they
didn’t miss,” Leafs forward Mitch Marner said. ”Now it’s do or die.”Bergeron,
part of a top line that combined for 20 points in the Bruins’ two home victories
to open the series, was a surprise late scratch. Riley Nash took his spot
between Marchand and Pastrnak, and played well in the four-time Selke Trophy
winner’s absence earlier this season.”It doesn’t matter (if Bergeron’s out),”
Marchand said. ”You play the same way.”Marchand snapped a 1-1 tie for Boston
with 3:05 left in the second after the Bruins were called for icing. Leafs coach
Mike Babcock put his top line, centered by Auston Matthews, out hoping to pounce
on a tired group
Derek Ryan Jersey Womens , but Nash won the draw to Adam McQuaid, whose clearing attempt up the boards skipped past Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner.
Pastrnak moved in on a 2-on-1 with Marchand, faking a shot to draw the
overaggressive Nikita Zaitsev to him before feeding his linemate with a slick
pass for a wide-open net.The Leafs had a number of chances earlier in the period
to go ahead, including Mitch Marner’s breakaway off a stretch pass from Morgan
Rielly that Rask turned aside with the blocker, but were unable to get one by
Rask.Boston then made it 3-1 at 4:17 of the third. David Krejci blocked Travis
Dermott’s shot and raced the other way on a 2-on-1 before finding DeBrusk, who
beat a helpless Andersen after Roman Polak failed to block the pass across.”We
had a breakaway and a good 2-on-1, and we got nothing out of it,” Babcock said.
”Both their 2-on-1s … they buried and we didn’t make good plays on them to help
our goalie out. In the end, that’s the game.”The Bruins stunned the Maple Leafs
just 28 second into the game to quiet an electric Air Canada Centre when Krug’s
snapshot from the sideboards found its way past Nash and Plekanec in front
before glancing in off Andersen’s shoulder.”It’s one I’ve got to fight to see,”
Anderson said.Toronto eventually got going and tied it at 7:43 when Marner fed a
pass from his knees that was helped on by Patrick Marleau to Plekanec, who
scored his first goal since being acquired from Montreal before the trade
deadline.The Leafs kept coming and nearly grabbed the lead later in the period,
but Rask shot out his pad to deny Zach Hyman from in close as Toronto outshot
Boston 12-7 through the opening 20 minutes.Asked how concerned he is that
Matthews, who scored the winner Monday, has been mostly quiet, Babcock said some
of his youngsters are learning hard playoff lessons.”I’m assuming he thought he
would come tonight and dominate the game – that’s what I thought
John Carlson Jersey ,” the coach said. ”I thought the same with (William Nylander). That didn’t happen, but the other people you’re playing against are
pros and they’re trying, too, and they’re competitive. There’s regular-season
competitiveness and there’s Stanley Cup playoff competitiveness, and it keeps
amping up.”When you leave here tonight as an individual, as a coach, as a
player, you’ve got time to evaluate … and most guys are pretty honest.”NOTES:
Pastrnak has 11 points in the series (four goals, seven assists), while Marchand
has seven (two goals, five assists) despite Boston’s top line getting shut out
in Game 3. … Plekanec had three assists in 20 combined regular-season and
playoff games with Toronto before Thursday. … Leafs winger Leo Komarov sat out a
second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Toronto center Nazem Kadri
served the final game of his suspension for taking a run Boston forward Tommy
Wingels in the series opener. Wingels suited up for the first time since the
hit. … Game 7, if necessary, goes Wednesday in Boston.UP NEXTGame 5 on Saturday
at Boston.
