PITTSBURGH – Outhit, outshot and largely outplayed, Pittsburgh grabbed control of its Eastern Conference semifinal against Washington anyway.
Blame it on a 21-year-old rookie goaltender who hardly seems intimidated by the stakes or the avalanche of shots from the NHL's best team.
Matt Murray made 47 stops and the Penguins did just enough counterpunching to edge the Capitals 3-2 on Monday night for a 2-1 lead in an increasingly fractious best-of-seven series living up to its billing.
Patric Hornqvist and Tom Kuhnhackl scored a minute apart in the first period, Carl Hagelin added his third goal of the playoffs in the second and the Penguins held on despite relentless pressure from the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin and Justin Williams scored in the third, but the Capitals find themselves in a deficit against a franchise they have beaten just once in eight previous playoff meetings.
"They throw a lot of pucks at the net, and without Murray, there's no way we win this game," Hornqvist said. "That's what good teams team do. They find a way to win games when they don't play their best, and that's exactly what we did tonight. We have to be better the next game."
The Penguins might have to play that one without Kris Letang. The star defenseman earned a two-minute minor for interference in the first period after launching himself at Washington's Marcus Johansson in a sequence that had some of the same hallmarks of the hit that earned Washington's Brooks Orpik a three-game suspension for drilling Olli Maatta in Game 2.
Johansson was skating into the offensive zone late in the first period when he was headed off. The puck was long gone by the time Letang turned toward Johansson and nailed him.
Calder finalists revealed
Edmonton forward Connor McDavid, Philadelphia defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Chicago forward Artemi Panarin are the finalists for the Calder Trophy that goes to the NHL's top rookie.
