There is no other feeling like it. So the question isn’t why would Crosby want to cut the celebration short, but why would he want to put off starting the process all over again?

So just 88 days after Pittsburgh closed out Nashville in six games to become the first team in nearly two decades to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, Crosby found himself out on the ice with assorted prospects, many of whom have little chance of making it to the NHL this season.

That didn’t stop Crosby and his familiar No. 87 jersey serving as perhaps the most decorated ”welcome wagon” in professional sports. For the better part of an hour the face of the game skated with the newcomers. Later in the afternoon the more established players went through a workout of their own, well aware of the message Crosby’s appearance in the building earlier in the day sent.

”I think that’s where it starts with this team,” said forward Carl Hagelin after a voluntary workout. ”Any new guy that comes up or any new guy that gets traded here, they get treated extremely well by Sid first of all and then the organization. You kind of follow his lead. There’s a good culture within this locker room and within this organization. When you get here, you’ve got to follow or you’re going to get left behind.”

Crosby makes it a point to be the first one to extend a hand, even though it can make for occasionally awkward moments, particularly for players like forward Ryan Reaves. The Penguins acquired Reaves from St. Louis over the summer looking to give their lineup a physical presence. The issue, of course, is that part of Reaves’ responsibilities during his time in St. Louis was making Crosby as uncomfortable as possible whenever the two teams met.

”I would say me and Sid’s relationship before this was rocky,” Reaves said with a laugh. ”But I don’t know many people that like me on the ice though. But we’ve hung out a couple times. Really nice guy for sure.”

Reaves joined some of his new teammates in a fantasy football draft over the weekend. Reaves believes he has an eye for talent. He also has an eye for leadership. He wasn’t exactly surprised when he arrived at the rink and Crosby was already out there working with kids who may never actually play alongside him.

”That’s why he’s the best in the world,” Reaves said. ”He does things like that and he makes the younger guys better and he pushes everybody to be the best. He’s the best in the world for a reason.”

One intent on guiding the Penguins to a third consecutive Cup, something that hasn’t been done since the New York Islanders ripped off four straight in the early 1980s, long before the salary cap came around, a move designed to level the playing field both financially and competitively. It didn’t look like that last spring as the Penguins raced by Columbus, outlasted Washington and Ottawa then pulled away from the upstart Predators in the final.

”Last year everyone said it was impossible to do, winning two in a row,” said Hagelin, whose empty-net goal in the final seconds of Game 6 quieted the ”Smashville” crowd and clinched Pittsburgh’s fifth Cup. ”Everyone is going to come after you. Now we’re used to that and we’re expecting the same thing this year. There’s going to be no surprises this year obviously.”

Doing it means enduring training camp, a six-month regular season followed by eight more weeks in the crucible of playoff hockey. The Penguins were supposed to be too tired from the Cup run in 2016 to do it again. And yet they did. As the official opening of camp looms, the lure of history is giving even established players like Hagelin a dose of adrenaline.

”Usually this time of year, you have such a short summer, maybe you’re kind of dreading it a little bit,” Hagelin said.

Not Hagelin. He missed a chunk of the regular season and the playoffs with injuries but returned in time to make an impact in the final, his legs a blur as he sped away from the Predators to flip in the goal that secured his name on the Cup for a second time.

”Focusing on coming out and getting a good start, that’s usually the tough part, to have every guy on the same page in the beginning of the year to really dig down and make sure you win those games,” he said. ”That’s our goal. After that we just keep playing and keep getting better, that’s the type of team we’re trying to be.”

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There’s no place like road for the Pittsburgh Penguins and other teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Through early in the second round, the visiting team is 26-20 in the playoffs, a .565 winning percentage that hasn’t been approached since 2012 and has as much to do with the NHL’s parity as tactical advantages of playing at home.

No one has been better on the road the past two seasons as the defending Cup champion Penguins at 9-5. Pittsburgh winger Bryan Rust believes the key is handling the momentum that an intimidating crowd can feed off of and swinging it the other way.

”It gives us energy to take energy from the crowd and from the building,” Rust said Friday. ”That’s something we pride ourselves in and we look to do when we’re playing road games.”

Toronto coach Mike Babcock remarked that there’s nothing like making opposing fans sit on their hands and watch the game nervously with long faces. But there’s something that creates a road-ice advantage that goes counterintuitive to the benefits of hockey at home.

The home team gets the last change so the coach can get the more advantageous matchup. But that doesn’t always work as intended if the home team wants to keep its star players away from certain forward lines or defensive pairings.

”Sometimes depending on the situations it’s almost the road team that dictates how the game is played because just the guys they put on the ice in certain faceoffs, and then the other team has to respond to that,” Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk said. ”It’s that fine line.”

Capitals coach Barry Trotz knows that in chasing matchups sometimes ”you allow the visiting coach to control your bench.” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he and his staff don’t play the matchup game too often, which is perhaps a big reason for the road success dating to last year.

Then there’s a slight rules tweak made two years ago designed to create offense that took one other piece of home-ice advantage away. The visiting player taking the faceoff used to have to put his stick down first, and now instead it’s the player on his defensive side of the ice.

Faceoffs aside, teams try to play a different brand of hockey on the road, often playing it safer in the process. That goes hand in hand with managing a hostile environment.

”In the playoffs, a home game, the crowd, there’s energy and there’s momentum to take from that, but the road team can play with that, too,” Capitals right winger Tom Wilson said.

Mike Yeo, whose St. Louis Blues went 3-0 on the road in upsetting the Minnesota Wild in the first round, credits his team’s play away from home late in the regular season as a big reason for this continued success.

”We didn’t have the luxury of choosing whether we wanted to play well or not on the road and with that comes some confidence,” Yeo said. ”I don’t think there are big differences in our game. We try not to change our game. We try to have the same approach, regardless of our opponent, regardless of where we’re playing, whether it’s home or away.”

Washington forward Daniel Winnik has always wondered about the value of home-ice advantage and still thinks it matters this time of year. Part of it he thinks has to do with the parity in the league now, where the difference between the first and eighth seeds isn’t that substantial.

The Nashville Predators showed that in sweeping the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, and the Los Angeles Kings won it all as the No. 8 seed in 2012, going a record 10-1 on the road as they carved through the playoffs. In the salary-cap era, the team with the most road playoff wins has either won the Cup or lost in the final.

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AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.

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Crosby scored two goals in 52 seconds, Bonino had the winner in the third period and Fleury made dazzling saves with and without his stick, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 Thursday night in Game 1 of their highly anticipated second-round series.

Almost eight years after their ”dueling hat tricks” game, Ovechkin answered Crosby with his fourth goal of the playoffs, but his team couldn’t compensate for the Penguins captain’s greatness.

”They’re special athletes, both those guys, and they look for those big moments and they capitalize on those big moments,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”They’re special players.”

Crosby scored twice in the first 64 seconds of the second period to give him as many goals as he had points in the Penguins’ series against the Capitals a year ago.

”That’s how it goes sometimes,” Crosby said. ”You don’t get some for a while and then they come in bunches.”

With linemates Jake Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist playing a game of ”Get Crosby the puck and watch him do his thing,” the 2016 playoff MVP capitalized on a couple of Washington mistakes and looked as if he had a third goal in him a few more times.

”He was a threat all night,” Penguins center Matt Cullen said. ”He was dangerous. He was attacking.”

In a postseason full of blown multi-goal leads, the Capitals rallied on goals by Ovechkin late in the second and Evgeny Kuznetsov early in the third. Then another Capitals mistake allowed Scott Wilson to find Bonino in some open ice, and the third-line center beat Braden Holtby with 7:24 left for the Game 1 winner.

”Bones is a guy that’s a high-stakes player,” coach Mike Sullivan said. ”He brings his best game when the games are most important, and we’ve got a lot of guys on our roster that we can say that about.”

Fleury qualifies, especially after he flailed around and almost actually stood on his head to preserve the victory. He made 15 of his 32 saves in the third period, including a flurry of four with 3 minutes left long after he had lost his stick.

”I couldn’t see the puck for a little while there, I had no stick, so I was trying to make some stops,” Fleury said. ”It was fun. … Try to rise up to the challenge and try to keep the team in the game. Saving that lead, when you can do it, it’s a good feeling.”

The Capitals weren’t feeling so good about a game in which they didn’t have a single power play. Pittsburgh went 0 for 2 with the man advantage, but Trotz thought there were opportunities for his team to get at least one chance.

”No penalties against their side,” Ovechkin said. ”You just have to fight through it.”

The Capitals outshot the Penguins 35-21 – Holtby made 18 saves and Fleury was the difference. With Game 2 in Washington on Saturday night, Bonino knows it will be difficult to take a 2-0 series lead with the same showing.

”I think we can play better,” Bonino said. ”There’s no perfect games. I think we weathered their storm there. I think we’re happy to get the win, but they played a great game and we know they’re going to get better too, so we’ve got to match that.”

NOTES: LW Chris Kunitz returned to the Penguins’ lineup after missing the first round and final five games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Kunitz appeared in his 107th playoff game, tying Hall of Famer/co-owner Mario Lemieux for fifth on the Penguins’ career list. … Pittsburgh LW Carl Hagelin remained out with a lower-body injury that has sidelined him since mid-March. … Capitals D Karl Alzner missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. … Washington did not have a power play in a playoff game for the first time since Game 7 of the first round against the New York Islanders in 2015.

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The two-time MVP’s 17 goals lead the NHL just over a quarter of the way into the season, even though he missed the first six games while recovering from a concussion. Even though injuries have forced head coach Mike Sullivan to shake up his lines. Even though Crosby insists he hasn’t made some sort of conscious decision to pepper the opposing net.

”You can call it whatever you want,” Crosby said.

Just don’t call it luck.

”You don’t get puck luck (that many) times,” teammate Patric Hornqvist said. ”I just think he’s in the right spot at the right time.”

Over and over and over again.

The game’s most creative player is in the midst of a rebirth at 29, a renaissance that coincided with Sullivan’s arrival last December. It’s a union that has propelled Crosby to some of the finest hockey of his career. He captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP last June after the Penguins won their fourth Stanley Cup title and he hardly looked weary from a shorter than usual summer while captaining Team Canada to a remarkably easy stroll to the gold medal in the World Cup of Hockey in September.

The player who appeared on the other side of his prime a year ago has reclaimed his spot as face of the sport and appears in no mood to give up the mantle anytime soon. Not that Crosby wants to talk about it. He figures he’s just doing what he’s always done.

”I’m in the same spots, the same areas,” said Crosby, who is putting the puck on net 3.5 times per game, just a slight uptick from with his usual average. ”When you think it’s going in you tend to shoot a little bit more because you feel good, you believe it’s going in … When you’re struggling a little bit, you feel you need to bring it closer or pass up a shot and make a pass. I think that’s normal for everybody. That’s pretty common.”

Crosby never met a teammate he didn’t like to set up, but maybe he is finally getting a little selfish. It wasn’t always that way.

”Playing against him in the past, I would try to make sure I was taking away passing lanes from him,” said forward Eric Fehr, who spent nine years facing Crosby while skating for Washington before signing with Pittsburgh in 2015. ”You don’t really expect him to pull up and shoot. You see him coming down in a 3 on 2 you’re expecting him to lay it in somewhere. I think that’s changed him a little bit and that makes him tough to defend.”

The proof came Monday night against Ottawa. Crosby and Hornqvist broke in on the rush in the first period and even though Hornqvist had a step on the defender, Crosby ripped a wrist shot over Craig Anderson’s blocker instead.

Then there are the things Crosby does that are nearly impossible to defend, instances when his ability to read a play before it happens puts him a split second ahead of everyone else on the ice. His team trailing by a goal as the seconds ticked down against New Jersey last month, Crosby stood calmly off to the side during a scramble in front of the net, let things sort themselves out then picked the puck out of a sea of bodies and casually flipped it over goaltender Keith Kincaide to send the game to overtime.

Last week against Dallas, the athlete who once homered while taking batting practice at the home of baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates stunned everyone by trying to bank a shot in off Stars goaltender Antti Niemi from behind the net. When the puck bounced off Niemi and right back to him, Crosby swatted it out of midair . The puck smacked off the middle of Niemi’s back and into the goal.

”Only a few players in the league can bank those in and it’s always the same guys,” Hornqvist said. ”If you have the skill, might as well do it.”

It’s the type of thing that is happening for Crosby more and more and seems to represent his career coming full circle. He’s only led the NHL in goals once, when he poured in 51 in 2009-10. He was on his way to doing it again the following year when he a hit to the head in the 2011 Winter Classic against Washington sent him on a nomadic path back that robbed him of the better part of two seasons. Some wondered if the magic would ever return in full.

It’s also why the concussion he suffered in an early October practice raised so many alarm bells. Yet he preached calm instead of panic as he recovered, then went out and scored in his season debut against Florida as if to tell everyone to relax. It also started a run that shows no signs of slowing down.

”There’s no really great way to describe it,” he said. ”You just hope it keeps going in.”

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This story has been corrected to delete a reference to a crosscheck to Crosby’s head in the 2011 Winter Classic.

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The Penguins also remained a point ahead of Washington, which beat St. Louis thanks to an Alex Ovechkin hat trick.

Elsewhere, San Jose edged Western Conference pace setter Chicago, and Tampa Bay closed in on the Atlantic Division lead by defeating Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh held New York without a shot on goal over 23:59 spanning the second and third periods.

Scott Wilson, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel and Matt Cullen also scored for the Penguins, who avenged a heavy loss to the Rangers earlier in the week.

Pittsburgh trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, but then the defending Stanley Cup champions took control, chasing Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist after four goals on 17 shots.

Washington’s Ovechkin scored his first hat trick this season and the 16th of his 10-year NHL career to lead the Capitals over St. Louis 4-3.

Ovechkin had a goal in each period to move one hat trick ahead of Florida’s Jaromir Jagr for the most among active players.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist for Washington.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and Alex Pietrangelo added a late goal for the Blues, who had won four straight.

San Jose’s Logan Couture and Joel Ward scored in the first period and that was enough for a 2-1 win against Chicago.

Artemi Panarin scored for the Blackhawks, who lost in regulation against the Sharks for only the third time in 13 meetings.

Chicago captain Jonathan Toews left with an unspecified injury following the second period. He leads the league with 292 faceoff wins and had a game-high eight after two periods.

Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan scored 12 seconds apart in the third period to help the Lightning beat Philadelphia 4-2.

The Lightning also got goals from Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov.

Dale Weise and Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers, who were short-handed three times in the first 12 minutes of the third before Killorn (13:28) and Callahan (13:40) scored to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead.

Edmonton’s Connor McDavid extended his scoring surge with a goal and two assists in the third period to lift the Oilers to a 6-3 win against Colorado.

McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, has four goals and four assists in Edmonton’s three-game winning streak.

The Oilers trailed 3-2 entering the third but scored three times in the first 7:25. Milan Lucic tied it 32 seconds in when he knocked in McDavid’s shot on goalie Semyon Varlamov.

McDavid gave Edmonton a 4-3 lead when his shot from the backboards went off Varlamov and in at 6:35. The second-year star then assisted on Leon Draisaitl’s goal 55 seconds later.

Jordan Eberle had two goals and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for Edmonton.

New Jersey’s Mike Cammalleri had four points in his return to the lineup as the Devils edged Toronto 5-4 after a shootout.

Jacob Josefson scored in the shootout for the Devils, who overcame an early 3-0 deficit.

Cammalleri had a goal and three assists. He missed six games after his 5-year-old daughter was hospitalized with pneumonia.

Travis Zajac, Beau Bennett and Yohann Auvitu also scored for New Jersey.

Top draft pick Auston Matthews had two goals and set up another by Nazem Kadri in Toronto’s big first period. Matt Martin also scored.

Calgary goalie Chad Johnson made 34 saves for his second shutout in five starts, leading the Flames over Columbus 2-0.

Nashville’s Filip Forsberg, James Neal and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators over Dallas 5-2.

Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu, Jonas Brodin and Zach Parise scored to lead the Wild past road-weary Winnipeg 3-1.

Los Angeles’ Dwight King scored twice in a 20-second span late in the third period as the Kings beat the New York Islanders 4-2, extending their winning run to four games.

Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist scored in regulation and in a shootout to help the Red Wings snap a four-game losing streak, beating Buffalo 2-1.

Vancouver’s Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi each had a goal and two assists in the Canucks’ 4-1 victory over Arizona.

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“I’m not talking about anything ahead of Game 5,” the Pittsburgh captain said when asked about a potential Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins.

But after the Penguins’ 7-3 victory Wednesday night, it’s hard to imagine Crosby and his teammates aren’t starting to think about facing the Bruins, who are up 3-0 over the New York Rangers.

Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice, Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis added goals, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves. Down 2-1 after the first period, the Penguins scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes of the third.

Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched after Pittsburgh’s sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.

“There was a sense like, ‘OK, this might take as many shots as we can muster to break this guy.’ And fortunately, we kept on that mindset,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “It was a matter of, ‘We are going to have to fire anything and everything we can at this guy to get one by him.'”

Game 5 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.

“I know what we’re going to do,” Alfredsson said. “We’re going to go out and play one hell of a game. That doesn’t worry me at all. We never quit and that’s not going to stop now. We know the odds are against us in every way, but we never quit and that’s going to continue.”

But Alfredsson also conceded that the Senators faced long odds of rallying against the top-seeded Penguins.

“Probably not,” Alfredsson said, according to NHL.com. “[Pittsburgh’s] depth and our play right now … it doesn’t look too good.

“When you look at what we did, it wasn’t good enough. Does that mean [Pittsburgh] was good? Did we make them good? Who really cares? From our point of view, we didn’t manage the puck [well], we didn’t execute our passes, and subsequently, we got punished in the neutral zone. We turned way too many pucks over and gave them some freebies. It would have been nice to have the lead for a little bit longer, but now we’re back on our heels again. We didn’t shut them down when it matters.”

The 40-year-old captain was seen retrieving the puck at the end of the game, NHL.com reported, but Alfredsson insisted that the puck was a memento for his family and not a sign that he was considering retirement at season’s end.

Senators coach Paul MacLean didn’t take a single question after the game. Instead, he held up the scoresheet and said: “I think everything’s right here. It’s 7-3. See you in Pittsburgh. We’re going to Pittsburgh and we’re coming to play. Have a good night.”

The Senators, coming off a double-overtime victory Sunday night in Game 3, opened the scoring on Michalek’s short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. With defenseman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side for Ottawa’s second short-handed goal of the series.

It was the Senators’ first lead of the series. It wouldn’t last.

Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net. Turris put Ottawa back in front off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first.

Pittsburgh tied it early in the second when Kunitz got behind the defense and went in alone to beat Anderson. Less than a minute later, Anderson gave up a rebound on Kris Letang’s shot that landed on the tape of Iginla’s stick to make it 3-2.

Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Dupuis added a short-handed goal at 8:07, Crosby followed at 8:39, and Iginla scored on a power play at 9:53.

Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point.

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That’s never an issue for Sidney Crosby, who followed the lead of his decidedly less-heralded teammates to establish a bit of order to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round series with the New York Islanders.

Vokoun stopped 31 shots in his first postseason appearance in six years, Kennedy broke a scoreless tie with a sizzling breakaway and Crosby delivered another magical goal in a career stuffed with them. The Penguins beat the Islanders 4-0 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kris Letang and Douglas Murray also scored for Pittsburgh, which finally looked like the team that rolled to the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.

Game 6 is Saturday in New York. Another 60 minutes like the Penguins put together on Thursday and a Game 7 won’t be required.

“They played harder than us,” New York coach Jack Capuano said. “The better team won tonight. They deserved the hockey game.”

One the Penguins desperately needed after the Islanders evened the series 2-2 with a wild 6-4 victory in Game 4 that appeared to have the top seed reeling.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma grew so frustrated watching eighth-seeded New York overwhelm goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury that Bylsma benched the Stanley Cup winner — who had made 79 consecutive playoff starts — in favor of Vokoun, a 36-year-old journeyman who has never made it out of the first round of the postseason in his career.

Vokoun is three periods away now after shutting out the Islanders for the second time this season. Not bad for a guy starting his first playoff game since April 20, 2007, while playing for Nashville.

“I was a little bit nervous the whole day; you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t,” Vokoun said.

It didn’t look like it once the puck dropped. Vokoun didn’t budge when the Islanders dominated the first period, turning aside 14 shots in the first 20 minutes as the Penguins tried to gain their bearings with a new lineup designed to cut down New York’s speed advantage.

Though Bylsma’s biggest change was inserting Vokoun in place of Fleury, he also scratched defenseman Mark Eaton and forwards Jussi Jokinen and Tanner Glass in favor of younger, quicker skaters Simon Despres, Joe Vitale and Kennedy.

The moves paid off handsomely.

Kennedy, squeezed out of the rotation by the influx of veterans brought in at the trade deadline, gave the Penguins the confidence boost they needed 7:25 into the second period.

The play began innocently enough in Pittsburgh’s end before Letang hit Kennedy with a pinpoint 80-foot stretch pass right up the middle of the ice. Kennedy greedily accepted the puck at New York’s blue line, then flipped a wrist shot over Evgeni Nabokov’s glove to give Pittsburgh the lead.

The score seemed to rattle Nabokov. Murray loped in a lazy wrist shot from the point that Nabokov tried to glove only to have the puck slip out of his left hand, over his back and into the net.

There was nothing fluky about Crosby’s third goal of the series, a masterpiece that ranks among the more dazzling plays of his already highlight-heavy career.

The Pittsburgh captain, still wearing a cumbersome mask to protect his broken jaw, took a pass from teammate Jarome Iginla at center ice, then effortlessly split New York defenders Lubomir Visnovsky and Thomas Hickey. Crosby crossed the blue line and poked the puck ahead as the defensemen closed in, lifting his stick before stepping through a pair of flailing poke checks.

Nabokov didn’t have a chance as the wrist shot zipped over the goaltender’s stick to push the lead to 3-0.

There’s a statue outside Consol Energy Center commemorating a similar goal by Hall of Famer and team co-owner Mario Lemieux. The bronze sculpture shows Lemieux slicing through two Islanders defenders in 1988 on his way to the net.

Crosby downplayed any similarities.

“His was much nicer than mine,” Crosby said. “He went through guys and stickhandled through them and stickhandled around the goalie, too. I had a few less moves and a pretty basic shot, but I’ll take the goal anytime it goes in.”

The Islanders never recovered. While they kept Vokoun busy, he was rarely outnumbered as Pittsburgh cut down on the turnovers that led to a seemingly endless flurry of odd-man rushes by the Islanders in Games 2-4.

“We didn’t do a great job of helping Marc out,” Crosby said. “We wanted to make sure we did a better job in front of our goalie.”

When New York did manage to get deep, Vokoun didn’t falter and neither did the guys in front of him as the Penguins were able to develop a consistent rhythm for the first time since a 5-0 romp in Game 1.

Nabokov never located one and found himself on the bench when Letang scored on the power play 5:43 into the third period. Nabokov finished with 23 saves but spent the final 14:17 watching backup Kevin Poulin kept the Penguins off the board. The Islanders will get a chance to regroup at home on Saturday in their bid to win a playoff series for the first time in 20 years.

At least Game 5 is over. New York hasn’t won a Game 5 of any playoff series since 1988.

“For us it’s two Game 7s right now starting on Saturday,” New York defenseman Mark Streit said. “We’ve just got to concentrate on our game, what brought us in this situation and what makes us successful. We know we have it in the room. We’re a confident group.”

Game notes
New York played without D Andrew MacDonald, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. The Islanders also scratched F Marty Reasoner and D Matt Carkner among others … Kennedy’s goal was his sixth winning goal in the postseason, sixth most in Pittsburgh history.

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Pittsburgh, gearing for a run at the Stanley Cup, welcomed star forward Jarome Iginla to the lineup, but lost Sidney Crosby early in the first period after he was hit in the mouth with a puck.

Still, the Penguins managed to overcome the injury to Crosby on Saturday for their 15th straight victory as Matt Cooke and James Neal scored third-period goals during a 2-0 victory against the New York Islanders.

“It’s very tough to see that happen to anybody on the ice, but this is your teammate and Sid’s such a great player,” Iginla said. “It’s a very, very unfortunate play.”

Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves as Pittsburgh moved within two wins of the NHL record of 17 straight victories set by Mario Lemieux and the 1992-93 Penguins.

“The shutout is nice, but preserving the winning streak is even better,” Vokoun said. “It’s been great.”

It might be tough without Crosby.

Coach Dan Bylsma said Crosby lost several teeth and needed oral surgery. He did not know if Crosby would miss additional time and wasn’t sure if the injury affected his jaw.

“I just know he had some issues with his teeth,” Bylsma said. “Just from the replay I know that.”

Crosby, with 15 goals and 56 points, has enjoyed a resurgence this season, leading Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos by 10 points in the NHL scoring race.

Another head injury for Crosby, however, has to concern the Penguins.

Crosby has missed considerable time the past two years because of concussions. He was sidelined the final 41 games in 2011 and the Stanley Cup playoffs, and skipped most of the 2012 regular season as symptoms lingered.

“I think every time that type of thing happens to a player you think about it,” Bylsma said.

Crosby skated off the ice with a towel covering his mouth after a slap shot by teammate Brooks Orpik deflected off a stick and hit the NHL scoring leader in the face. Crosby, who immediately fell to the ice and tossed his stick in the air, did not return.

“When you see the replay, he had no chance to move,” Iginla said. “Guys were definitely checking to see how he was doing.”

Pittsburgh went 15-0-0 in March, the first perfect month in league history. The Penguins also won a franchise-best 12th straight at home.

The Penguins, with a win at home against Buffalo on Tuesday, will have a chance to tie the record of 17 straight wins the following night at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

As it stands, they’re tied with the 1981-82 Islanders for the second longest winning streak in NHL history.

“It’s exciting for our team, exciting for the players,” Neal said. “We want to keep the streak going.”

Iginla, a six-time All-Star, was acquired by the Penguins from Calgary early Thursday and he arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was in the lineup a game earlier than originally anticipated.

The move for Iginla, who waived his no-trade clause to come to Pittsburgh, was the Penguins’ third big deal in a week. Pittsburgh also obtained former Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow and defenseman Doug Murray from San Jose.

The record crowd at Consol Energy Center responded with a huge ovation when Iginla was announced as part of the starting lineup.

Iginla, who played right wing for most of his career in Calgary, skated the left side on a line with reigning NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin and Neal, an All-Star forward.

The excitement quickly turned to concern 1:28 into the game when Crosby left the ice.

Pittsburgh appeared stunned without its captain, and the Islanders took advantage, getting the first eight shots of the game, but came up empty against Vokoun.

Vokoun earned his second consecutive shutout. Vokoun who hasn’t been scored on in more than 162 minutes, relieved injured starter Marc-Andre Fleury during a 1-0 victory Tuesday against Montreal.

Vokoun’s biggest save came in the third period, stopping Islanders speedy forward Michael Grabner on a breakaway.

Cooke scored his sixth goal of the season at 8:10, picking up the rebound from defenseman Deryk Engelland’s shot at the top of the crease, and firing a spinning shot behind Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

“I went to the net and the puck hit me in the stomach,” Cooke said. “I stayed with it, tried to settle it and get it on net.”

Neal scored at 13:04, firing a wrist shot past Nabokov. It was his 18th goal.

The Islanders entered Saturday’s game tied with the New York Rangers for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders, who handed Pittsburgh one of four losses on home ice, ended up losing for the third time during the Penguins’ 15-game winning streak.

“They’ve proven they can play without Crosby or Malkin, so it’s not so much that,” Islanders forward John Tavares said. “It’s more about us and executing and doing what we need to do to win hockey games.”

The Penguins received the biggest boost from their penalty kill.

Chris Kunitz, the team’s second-leading scorer, was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct late in the second period for checking Islanders center Josh Bailey from behind.

Bailey initiated contact, but Kunitz got the better of the play, sending Bailey dangerously into the boards. Bailey did not return.

“I saw the hit, I’m not going to comment on the hit,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “Fortunately (Bailey) is OK, but obviously stiff.”

The major penalty turned into a two-man advantage for the Islanders three minutes later when Orpik was whistled for tripping, but Pittsburgh successfully killed off both penalties.

“We had blocked shots, clears, we won some battles at the net,” Bylsma said. “That’s a long time to kill a 5-on-3 against a really good power play team.”

“Every time we get a big kill, it’s the loudest our crowd has been,” Cooke said. “The crowd was intense and it definitely energized us.”

Game notes

The Penguins have allowed nine goals in their past 11 games. … Paul Martin will have surgery Sunday on a broken bone and will miss six weeks. The Penguins are already without Kris Letang, the NHL’s leading scorer among defenseman, who is out seven to 10 days with a broken toe. … Orpik appeared in his 621st career game, tying Ron Stackhouse for fifth on the team’s games played list and first among defensemen.

The post Sidney Crosby injured but Penguins cap perfect month of March appeared first on IdealCapper.

Now, it’s Crosby’s turn to return the favor.

Crosby had two goals and an assist to lead Pittsburgh past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday night in the Penguins’ first game since reigning MVP Malkin was injured.

“They’re a dangerous team, so we wanted to make sure we played in their end as much as we could,” Crosby said. “They don’t need much room in order to create chances.”

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Malkin was diagnosed with a concussion after slamming back-first into the end boards during Friday night’s win over Florida.

Bylsma said Malkin, whose head snapped back when he hit the boards, initially suffered short-term memory loss, but he is improving. Still, Malkin will not join the team when it begins a three-game road swing Tuesday.

“He’s feeling fine and his memory is returning,” Bylsma said.

James Neal, Malkin’s regular linemate, played alongside Crosby and Chris Kunitz against the Lightning. Neal is tied for second in the league in goals.

Beau Bennett scored his first career goal on the power play to help Pittsburgh take over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. Matt Cooke and defenseman Paul Martin each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have won five of six to tie Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Stamkos had a three-point night for Tampa Bay, with his 13th goal and two assists. Stamkos and John Tavares of the New York Islanders are tied for the NHL lead in goals.

Cory Conacher, the NHL’s leading scorer among rookies, and defenseman Eric Brewer also scored for the Lightning, who are tied with Carolina for first place in the Southeast Division.

Stamkos, with 29 points, is one ahead of Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.

“You can’t give a team like that a three-goal lead in the first,” Stamkos said. “We made a game of it, we did a lot of positive things, but we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Marc-Andre Fleury, tied for first in the league with 10 wins, won his fifth straight game.

Anders Lindback started in goal for the Lightning and allowed three first-period goals on 10 shots before he was replaced at the start of the second by Mathieu Garon.

Tampa Bay, which outshot Pittsburgh 30-22, nearly crawled out of the 3-0 first-period hole with two goals early in the second period. The Lightning scored another in the third after the Penguins’ second-period power-play goal, cutting the deficit to 4-3, but Tampa Bay, which scored four goals in the third period during a 5-2 win one night earlier at Carolina, couldn’t complete the comeback.

“We’re the No. 1 team in the league for comebacks after two periods the last three years and we proved again why,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. “It’s just we can’t dig ourselves that big of a hole early, especially in a back-to-back.”

Crosby faced the Lightning for the first time since absorbing a check into the glass from Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman two years ago. It was a hit that contributed to the concussion problems that plagued the Penguins’ captain, forcing him to miss the final 41 games of the that regular season, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and most of last season as symptoms lingered.

Those days appear behind Crosby, who has 21 points in his last 12 games. The Penguins’ captain put his team ahead early with two goals less than 8 minutes into the game.

The first one came just 1:16 in. Crosby took a pass from Kunitz, skated alone down the left side and roofed a short-side wrist shot over Lindback’s shoulder from the faceoff dot.

Crosby’s second goal came 6 minutes later. Lindback had trouble trying to glove Martin’s shot from the point. Crosby got a stick on the puck, which bounced between Lindback’s legs and into the net after the Lightning goalie kicked it in.

Martin scored with 33 seconds left in the first period, tapping the rebound from Cooke’s initial shot into a partially empty net to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

The Lightning, after a dismal opening period, needed just 3:14 to score twice in the second.

Brewer got the first one 1:37 into the period on a tip-in from Stamkos, who followed it up by scoring the second — his fifth straight game with a goal — just 20 seconds into a two-man advantage.

Stamkos, with Pittsburgh’s Simon Despres and Craig Adams in the penalty box, wasted little time scoring on the power play, ripping a one-timer from the left side past Fleury to make it 3-2.

“They got right back into it and our three-goal lead evaporated,” Bylsma said. “I like how we stabilized the ship.”

The Penguins regained a two-goal lead, scoring on their own two-man advantage. It was the 11th straight game in which they scored a power-play goal, and the first time in five games Tampa Bay allowed a goal with the man advantage.

Kris Letang rushed to keep the puck in the zone at the blue line, sending a spinning pass to Crosby, who set up Bennett’s first NHL goal, a one-timer past Garon.

“Beau was in a good spot there,” Crosby said. “He’s a pretty gifted player, he has a lot of talent and he found the open lane.”

Conacher scored 3:15 into the third period, one-touching Hedman’s pass past Fleury to make it 4-3. But the Lightning, whose 32 third-period goals rank No. 1 in the NHL, couldn’t forge a tie despite Hedman’s near miss in the final minute.

“They’re a good team that has great offense and it’s going to bite you if you give them the puck, and that’s what happened tonight,” Boucher said.

Game notes

Crosby moved into third all-time in team history with 637 points, behind Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. … Cooke got his 200th career assist on Martin’s goal. … Both teams play again Tuesday. Tampa Bay returns home to host Buffalo, while Pittsburgh opens a three-game road trip at Florida. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Penguins’ next home game is March 4 against Tampa Bay.

The post Sidney Crosby lifts Penguins in 1st game since Evgeni Malkin injury appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Matt Cooke also scored, Sidney Crosby had three assists, and Tomas Vokoun made 21 saves against his former team for the Penguins, who have won three straight and four of five to lead the Atlantic Division.

Mike Green, John Carlson and Mike Ribeiro scored for the Capitals — and Carlson’s goal was an accident that took a weird carom off a stanchion along the glass. Two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin, who said before the game that he was somewhat embarrassed to have only three points on the season, contributed a secondary assist on a third-period power-play goal with Washington trailing by three.

Washington has lost seven of nine games to start the season. Hosting the Penguins as a Super Bowl warm-up for the third straight year, the Capitals no longer look like the formidable team that beat Pittsburgh 5-4 in overtime with a hat trick from Ovechkin in 2010 and shut out the Penguins 3-0 a year ago — both feisty games that included punches thrown by Ovechkin.

Ovechkin was overly physical in this game as well, getting a roughing call in the final two minutes.

Under new coach Adam Oates, the Capitals are feeling their way around the ice, especially on defense. Braden Holtby stopped only 20 of 26 shots, allowing Letang and Kunitz to beat him glove side 37 seconds apart in the second period to give the Penguins a 4-2 lead.

Vokoun, who shut out the New York Rangers on Thursday, made a successful return to the Verizon Center. He was signed to be the Capitals’ No. 1 goalie last season but hurt his groin and was eclipsed by Holtby during the playoffs, prompting Washington to trade him to Pittsburgh.

Martin scored from the point after Crosby won a faceoff in the Capitals’ zone to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the first period. Washington tied it less than two minutes later after a nice sequence in which Ribeiro won the puck along the boards and passed it to Wojtek Wolski, who then sent it along to a wide-open Green.

After Cooke made it 2-1, Carlson tied it on a bizarre goal in the second period. The Capitals defenseman was merely trying to dump the puck along the boards, but it rose up and took an odd deflection. Vokoun had already started to retreat behind the net to intercept the puck and tripped trying to change direction to get back to the crease.

Game notes

Ovechkin said before the game that the Capitals were in a “desperate moment.” He noted that he and other NHL players who spent the lockout playing in Russia should be doing better. “Right now I’m standing here, I have only three points, and, you know, it kind of embarrass me.” … The Capitals played the first of three games without D John Erskine, who was suspended for three games for elbowing Wayne Simmonds in Friday’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers. … Washington had been 12-1-3 in its previous 16 regular-season meetings vs. Pittsburgh.

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