Penguins Push Capitals To Brink Of NHL Elimination

By ESPN

Forget about revenge for the brutal cross-check that knocked Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby out of the playoffs indefinitely.

Marc-Andre Fleury didn't want any part of it. The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender came up with a more effective method of retribution against the Washington Capitals

"The best way to make them pay is winning," Fleury said.

Something the defending Stanley Cup champions keep doing no matter who is -- and who isn't -- in the lineup.

Fleury stopped 36 shots, rookie Jake Guentzel took advantage of a fortunate bounce for his playoff-leading eighth goal and Pittsburgh pushed Washington to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

Game 5 is Saturday night in Washington.

Outplay and outshoot the Penguins all you want. Outscoring them is another matter entirely.

Patric Hornqvist provided the Penguins with an early boost and Justin Schultz's power-play goal just past the game's midway point was enough for Fleury to do the rest .

Rendered a backup most of the season behind Matt Murray, Fleury is now Pittsburgh's most vital player, one who seems to thrive in the face of Washington's incessant pressure.

"He's elevated his game at an important time," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's a competitive guy. He's a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and I think he's showing it."

Consider the Capitals believers. Washington has pumped 142 shots at Fleury through four games, nearly 50 more shots than the Penguins have managed the other way (93). And yet all those opportunities have translated into just one victory.

"We had good chances and we didn't bury them," Washington coach Barry Trotz said. "Our backs are against the wall."

Again. One more win by Pittsburgh and the Penguins will send the Presidents' Trophy winners home for the ninth time in 10 playoff meetings.

The Capitals insist it's not mental, though at times they were their own worst enemy. Guentzel's goal came when a crossing pass deflected off Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov and by Braden Holtby .

Washington took seven penalties, including a high-sticking call against T.J. Oshie with less than two minutes left in regulation.

Oshie called it an "amateur play," one symbolic of a night in which the Capitals failed to take advantage of a Penguins team missing Crosby, defenseman Kris Letang and forward Conor Sheary.

Alexander Ovechkin managed just two shots and Washington's power play went 0 for 4.

"I would say our top players didn't play as well as they need to be to be top players," Trotz said. "They need to step up right now."

Capitals center Jay Beagle believed things could get "nasty" as the series moved forward after Matt Niskanen's shot to Crosby's head early in Washington's Game 3 victory.

Pittsburgh's Phil Kessel countered that Beagle's assertion that Niskanen's shot was "clean" made Beagle "an idiot." Beagle jokingly suggested the two work out their differences over a video game.

The nastiness never showed up. The "Mario Kart" showdown Beagle wanted will have to wait too.

Save for a scrap in the second period that amounted to little more than an extended wrestling match between Chris Kunitz and Tom Wilson -- who made a run at Kunitz but missed -- things stayed relatively tame.

An emotional and energetic start and a dash of luck allowed Pittsburgh to build a 2-0 lead. Hornqvist took a feed from Olli Maatta and beat a pair of Washington defenders to break in on Holtby. A flick of Hornqvist's wrists and the puck sailed over Holtby's glove and under the crossbar 4:39 into the first period to put the home team ahead for the first time in the series.

The Penguins' advantage doubled 3:51 into the second when Guentzel's cross to Matt Cullen instead ended up in the Washington net.

The Capitals tied it within a 72-second span later in the second. Justin Williams escaped a pair of Penguins on the boards and fed Evgeny Kuznetsov at the top of the circle for a wrist shot that zipped by Fleury.

Just over a minute later, Oshie's shot caromed off the end boards and straight to Nate Schmidt, who beat Fleury for the first playoff goal of his career.

Pittsburgh's power play, which struggled early in the series even with Crosby in the lineup, came through when a blast from Schultz 11:24 into the second put the Penguins back in front.

Fleury did the rest as he continued his renaissance with starter Matt Murray out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Fleury withstood surge after surge and when his teammates finally found their legs late in the third period, Washington found itself on the brink of having another promising season end with a loss to their longtime rivals.

"Right now Game 7 is every game for us," Ovechkin said.

Ducks 4, Oilers 3

 Ryan Getzlaf was a one-man wrecking crew at a big moment for the Anaheim Ducks.

Getzlaf scored twice and assisted on two goals, including Jakob Silfverberg's game-winner 45 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks topped the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.

"If he keeps doing this, we're going to have fun time here," Silfverberg said.

"He's one of the best players in the league and when he plays like he did tonight with that aggressiveness and physicality, he kind of pushes the whole team to move forward with him."

Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, which has won two in a row after dropping the first two games of the series at home. John Gibson made 29 saves.

Drake Caggiula, Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic scored for Edmonton, and Cam Talbot had 35 stops.

"It's a 2-2 series now," Caggiula said. "We have to make sure we play a full 60 minutes going forward here. We were in this situation last series too, and it worked out just fine."

Anaheim had a 3-2 lead before Caggiula snapped a rebound over Gibson's head at 18:18 of the third. It was the rookie's first career playoff point.

Game 5 is Friday night, back in Southern California.

"We haven't accomplished anything yet," Getzlaf said. "All we did was get our home-ice back. We've got to take this one, breathe, breathe, the next day and a half here and get ready for Game 5."

Edmonton led 2-0 after the opening period on goals from Lucic and McDavid.

Getzlaf sparked Anaheim's rally, scoring 97 seconds into the second and producing a go-ahead goal at 14:25. With his 35th and 36th playoff goals, Getzlaf surpassed Teemu Selanne as the franchise's career leader.

"When he's your centerpiece and he's doing what he's doing and accomplishing what he's doing, you'd have to scratch your head and really dig deep into the archives of when he's played better," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.

"He's been an energized player since our five-day break. Whatever he had on that five-day break, we're going to find out and give him more of it."

Said Getzlaf: "I feel good right now, I'll put it that way. It's a fun time of year. I love playing right now."

Patrick Eaves was scratched Wednesday due to a lower-body injury suffered in Game 3, so Corey Perry was reunited with Getzlaf on Anaheim's top line with Rakell.

Edmonton unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference on Getzlaf's goal at 1:37. The Oilers contended Perry bumped Talbot as he was beaten on a wrist shot.

"I disagree with the call or I wouldn't have challenged it," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "I thought he interfered with blocker and hands and he (Talbot) couldn't make the save. They didn't see it that way. They gained a little momentum at that point."

The Ducks tied it at 2 when Getzlaf threaded a goalmouth pass over to Rakell, who batted it past Talbot's glove. Getzlaf then pounced on a rebound that Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins failed to clear, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

Gibson held off the Oilers over the first 10 minutes of the game when they outshot the Ducks 8-3. McDavid was the most dangerous player in the opening minutes with a pair of scoring chances.

Lucic put Edmonton in front with a power-play goal at 15:38, and McDavid swept the puck over Gibson at 17:43 for his second goal of the series and fifth of the postseason. Leon Draisaitl assisted on each of the first-period goals.

Wednesday, May 3 Scoreboard

Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2

Game 4 -- Penguins lead 3-1

Anaheim 4, Edmonton 3 (OT)

Game 4 -- Series tied 2-2

Thursday, May 4 Schedule (All Times Central)

Ottawa at New York Rangers, 6:30 p.m.

Game 4 -- Senators lead 2-1

Friday, May 5 Schedule (All Times Central)

Nashville at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Game 5 -- Predators lead 3-1

Edmonton at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.

Game 5 -- Series tied 2-2