Penguins blow big lead in 3rd, defeat Capitals on late Malkin goal

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin scored with 1:20 remaining, and the Pittsburgh Penguins recovered after blowing a three-goal lead in the third period for a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Malkin poked the puck off the stick of Anthony Mantha in the neutral zone and drove to the right face-off circle, where he scored his 25th of the season on a snap shot blocker side.
"We need to play a better third period, for sure," Malkin said. "We lead 3-0. Lots of drama in the third period. My goal, I just try to do my best. … Finally, it gives me confidence, for sure. It's a huge goal for me and two points for the team."
Jake Guentzel, Ryan Poehling and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for the Penguins (36-27-10), who have won two of three. Casey DeSmith made 31 saves.
Pittsburgh moved three points ahead of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and one point behind the New York Islanders for the first wild card.

Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome scored in the third period, and Darcy Kuemper made 36 saves for the Capitals (34-32-8), who have lost four of five.
"The game spins quick out there," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "Things turn around, they come back at you really quick. I thought we did a great job of just staying focused and getting back into that game. It's frustrating to tie it up and have it go the other way."
The Capitals are six points behind the Penguins, who have a game in hand, for the second wild card.
"We still have a couple games against the Islanders. There's not going to be any quit here," Wilson said. "I think that's kind of been our mentality for the last month or so. We're just trying to work as hard as we can and see what happens. Doesn't change now.
"Obviously, that was a big game, but we'll move past it. We have to get ready for playing for our lives. Every point matters."

Wilson cut it to 3-1 during a 4-on-4 at 5:19 of the third, tapping in a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Ovechkin scored on a one-timer from the left circle on a power play at 13:18 to pull the Capitals to within 3-2.
Strome then tied it 3-3 with a backhand into an empty net with DeSmith down in his crease at 17:16.
"It's a tough one," Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. "It just wasn't a good enough 60 minutes against a good hockey team over there. Odds were stacked against us a little bit tonight, and we weren't able to find our game until maybe a little too late."
Poehling put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 10:10 of the second period. He took a stretch pass from Danton Heinen before skating past Rasmus Sandin and scoring top shelf with a wrist shot on a partial breakaway.
"I think tonight it was just a weird game," Poehling said. "We ended up getting a win. Coming down the stretch, these games are hard. You can't make mistakes."
Ruhwedel made it 2-0 at 12:17 with a snap shot glove side from the right circle. It was his first goal since April 23, 2022 (45 games).
Guentzel extended the lead to 3-0 on a power play 27 seconds into the third period, shooting five-hole with a wrist shot on a breakaway.
"It was an emotionally charged game," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "There were moments in the game where I thought we were really good. There were moments in the game, not so much. I think the most important thing is, especially this time of year, that we walked away with two points."
NOTES: Malkin scored his 81st game-winning goal in the NHL, tying Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron for the fifth among active players. … Ovechkin is one goal away from becoming the first player in NHL history with 300 power-play goals. … Capitals forward Sonny Milano did not play and is out at least one week with an upper-body injury. … Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry backed up DeSmith after being unavailable because of a lower-body injury for a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.