WASHINGTON (AP) – Eric Fehr scored the tiebreaking goal against his former team with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining Saturday night, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals that tied the Eastern Conference second-round playoff series at a game apiece.
Fehr redirected a pass out of a corner from Evgeni Malkin, sending the puck off the right post and past goalie Braden Holtby. Fehr played parts of nine seasons in Washington across two stints before leaving as a free agent last summer to join Pittsburgh.
Carl Hagelin had put Pittsburgh ahead in second period of Game 2, before Marcus Johansson pulled Washington even on a power play with about 16 minutes to go in the third.
The series shifts to Pittsburgh for Game 3 on Monday night.
The Penguins improved to 43-0 this season, including the playoffs, when leading after two periods. They have not lost two consecutive games in 3 1/2 months — since dropping a pair in overtime against Carolina and Tampa Bay on Jan. 12 and 14.
This time, Pittsburgh recovered quickly from its 4-3 overtime loss in Game 1 on Thursday night, and did it in part by again shutting down Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who led the NHL with 50 goals this season.While Penguins star Sidney Crosby didn't factor in Saturday's scoring, either, Malkin did provide a spark on the go-ahead goal, and 21-year-old rookie goalie Matt Murray made 23 saves.
LIGHTNING 4, ISLANDERS 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Johnson had two goals and an assist and Tampa Bay beat New York to even the second-round series at a game apiece.
Lightning goalie Ben Bishop rebounded after being pulled in second period of Game 1 to make 19 saves. He gave up four goals on 13 shots Wednesday night in a 5-3 loss.
Jonathan Drouin and Victor Hedman each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay.
Nikolay Kulemin scored for the Islanders, and Thomas Greiss 27 stopped shots.
Game 3 is Tuesday night in Brooklyn.
After Islanders teammates Cal Clutterbuck and Nick Leddy collided at the Tampa Bay blue line, the Lightning got an odd-man rush that resulted in Johnson's backhander that opened the scoring 6:03 into the game. Johnson extended the Tampa Bay advantage to 4-1 with a late empty-netter.
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