Without Crosby, Penguins push Capitals to brink; Ducks go OT to even series

Sidney Crosby was nowhere to be found on the ice Wednesday night while he nursed his much-discussed concussion .But the Pittsburgh Penguins were all over the Washington Capitals, hanging on to take a 3-2 victory and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference's primetime series.The second round is creeping to a dramatic conclusion, and steps forward from Pittsburgh and the Anaheim Ducks, who evened their own series with a 4-3 overtime victory at Edmonton later in the night, headlined Wednesday's action:





Even short on bodies, the Penguins are owning the Capitals

Statistically speaking, the Caps might have been all over the defending Stanley Cup champions, firing 38 shots at Marc-Andre Fleury compared to Pittsburgh's 19 shots on goal.

But it was Pittsburgh, without Crosby and Kris Letang, that outmuscled the Presidents' Trophy winners Wednesday during the course of a physical clash.

Washington found itself in a last-minute pickle that might or might not have been justified thanks to some acting from the Pens' Nick Bonino on a high-sticking call immediately following the Caps' decision to pull Braden Holtby from the net. But the debatable penalty, slapped on T.J. Oshie, which put Pittsburgh on the power play for the game's final two minutes, also did not make up for the Caps' inability to capitalize on what essentially was a 15-minute power play of their own in the final period.

Thirty-eight shots on goal -- and only a pair of second-period scores -- explains that pretty well. Couple Washington's inefficiency with the fact that the Pens were down two noted starters, and Game 4 belonged to Pittsburgh long before the final score -- and the intensity of the game's final minutes -- suggested things might swing the other direction.

Fleury was sprawling and saving shots left and right.

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Jake Guentzel would have given the Pens an insurance goal in the third if not for a bounce off the post.

And Pittsburgh, with a 3-1 lead over a Caps team that is both better built for this series and also has the advantage of superior health, is sitting squarely in the driver's seat -- with or without Crosby.

The Ducks are right back in the mix vs. Edmonton

Neither the Ducks nor the Oilers wanted to go down easily late Wednesday, but it's Connor McDavid's crew that has to be hurting rather severely after Edmonton surrendered a 2-0 lead in Game 4 and, on a bigger scale, a 2-0 series advantage.

Anaheim, without an injured Patrick Eaves, got hot on offense in the second period with three goals. Ryan Getzlaf paced the Ducks attack with four points, while Jakob Silfverberg, who fired at Cam Talbot time and again throughout the night, racking up nine shots on goal, scored less than a minute into overtime. The road team has won all four games in this series.

Edmonton, which rallied to tie Game 4 on a last-minute, power-play goal from Drake Caggiula, cannot be happy about such a sudden series turnaround. A crucial icing call against the Oilers late in Game 4, not to mention some other linesmen-influenced plays sure to be debated, hardly make this pill easier to swallow.