Stiffing Penguins defense evens series at two against Capitals

They tied the series 2-2 and avoided an elimination game in Washington, tomorrow.

Jets grab series lead with 7-4 win over Predators Blake Wheeler’s tiebreaking goal at 15:01 of the third period Tuesday night led the Winnipeg Jets to a 7-4 win over the visiting Nashville Predators in Game 3 of the Western Conference semi-finals at Bell MTS Place. There were the two goals by Guentzel, with Crosby assisting on each, and Evgeni Malkin had a second-period power-play goal that was only ruled good after a video review.

Much of what ailed the Penguins from a defensive perspective through the first three games of their second-round series against the Washington Capitals was self-inflicted. Jake Guentzel scored twice in the victory.

Scoring three goals including an empty-netter, the Pittsburgh Penguins put in an all-around solid effort to secure a win over rival Washington Capitals. Goalie Probables: Matt Murray will get the call for the Penguins and the Capitals will counter with Braden Holtby. “And so if we can do our best to limit those opportunities, I think that takes one element of a unsafe transition game out of it”.

“But, as far as we’re concerned, all we can do is control what’s within our power – and that’s our focus on the game”. The game seemed pretty even, although with a slight edge to Washington disregarding the penalty. The next step is just moving to Game 5, analyzing this game, seeing what we can do better, and playing even better in Game 5.

“There are very few Tom Wilsons in the league”, Barry Trotz said.

The Penguins haven’t scored unless Sidney Crosby is on the ice.

Niskanen, who spent four seasons in Pittsburgh before signing with Washington in the summer of 2014, blasted a one-timer by Murray 5:06 into the third to set up the finish. I want to say I saw somewhere on Twitter that Tom Wilson is the first player to be suspended three times in a single season. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a goal at the 17-second mark of Game 1, while Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a lead a little over a minute into the second game. When it does end, though, the Penguins will be confident that their teams will still be in good hands when their superstars ultimately and finally go quietly into the night. After a controversial no-goal by Pittsburgh in Game 2, we simply had to have another one in Game 4, right?

Guentzel gave the Penguins the lead 9:21 into the second period when he stood on the doorstep and banged home a rebound of Dominik Simon’s shot for his ninth of the playoffs and his 20th point of the postseason. Crosby’s Pittsburgh teammates are still amazed every time he does it – and they should be.

“He’s working hard, not only with looking at stuff, talking with other people in the league, so he keeps trying to adjust, keeps trying to grow as a player”.

“I shot us in the foot there with that penalty”, Oshie said.

The Stars are going in a new direction in the future, as they will announce the hiring of University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery as their next bench boss. The Capitals, rather than panicking, calmly got a much-needed goal from Chandler Stephenson.