Penguins score in 3rd to win Game 2 against Capitals

WASHINGTON-- Eric Fehr has scored in Verizon Center before, but this one was a little more special.
Fehr's goal with 4:28 remaining in the third period gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Verizon Center on Saturday.

The best-of-7-series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 at Consol Energy Center on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).
"It does feel a little bit different," said Fehr, a forward who played nine seasons for the Capitals before joining the Penguins as a free agent this offseason. "Obviously I had a lot of years here, and to be able to get that one to tie up the series and bring it back home with a split is enormous for us. You don't want to come out of here down 2-0 against the Presidents' Trophy winners. That would be a tough battle. Now we gave ourselves a chance and we're excited to get back home."

Fehr tipped a pass from Evgeni Malkin over Holtby's glove for his second goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That was a big game for us," Fehr said. "After they tied it up on the power play we could have folded and said it was a good try, but our team didn't give up. You gotta go hats off to [goalie Matt] Murray; he made some huge saves for us when the game was tied and gave us the opportunity to get the win."
Murray made 23 saves, and Carl Hagelin scored for Pittsburgh.
"Murray was really good," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "I mean, he made some big saves, especially in the third after we didn't give him a ton of work. We generated a lot, we didn't have to play in our own end a lot, but it's not easy for a goalie to kind of be sitting there waiting for those big chances, and they've got guys who can score. He was really strong."
Marcus Johansson scored for Washington, and Holtby made 33 saves.

Pittsburgh led 14-5 in shots on goal after the first period. T.J. Oshie's shot with 1:03 left in the period was the last one for the Capitals until Alex Ovechkin put one on net with 5:12 to go in the second.
"Call what it was: The first two periods the ice was tilted a little bit. No doubt," Washington forward Justin Williams said. "Good for them, they came in desperately. We didn't answer until the third. It turned out to be too late."
Hagelin scored at 7:08 of second period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. From behind the net, Nick Bonino connected with Hagelin in the slot, where he beat Holtby glove side for his second of the postseason.
"I thought we managed the puck through the neutral zone the right way," Sullivan said. "We tried not to feed their transition game. We tried to make the right decisions. When we do that we're a team that can be hard to play against, we can control territory. I thought for long stretches in the first two periods that's exactly what we did."

Johansson tied the game 1-1 at 4:08 of the third period with a power-play goal. He tapped in a rebound that trickled off Murray in the paint for his second of the playoffs.
"We've just got to keep it simple," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. "They had five [defensemen] tonight for the majority of the night, so we knew they were going to be a little bit tired, so that means get pucks in deep, finish your checks and cycle. When we got to the third period you could see it was icings and high flips and that's what you like to see. We need to leave more of a mark earlier in the game."
Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta was injured 4:13 into the first period after a hit from Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik and did not return. Orpik, who played for the Penguins from 2002-14, was penalized for interference.
"The ultimate goal is to win and we all have that in mind," Crosby said. "We know taking that hit or taking that punch is going to go a long way. Hopefully we keep getting some power plays here and find a way to convert on them."