Ilya Protas scored his first NHL goal and added two assists and the Washington Capitals helped their playoff chances with a 6-3 win against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Ryan Leonard scored twice, and Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (41-30-9, 91 points), who remain three points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division thanks to the Flyers’ dominant 7-1 win over Winnipeg Saturday. Cole Hutson had two assists, and Logan Thompson made nine saves.
Anthony Mantha, Noel Acciari and Kevin Hayes scored for the Penguins (41-23-16, 98 points), who have clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division. Ryan Shea had two assists, and Arturs Silovs made 25 saves.
Pittsburgh played without a group of injured veterans, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, and Kris Letang. Each is considered day-to-day.
Aliaksei Protas gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:39 of the second period when he converted a back-door pass from brother Ilya.
Mantha tied it 1-1 at 2:05, scoring on a wrist shot through traffic from just above the left circle.
Leonard put Washington back on top when he scored on a tip-in at the right post. The play was initially ruled a save, but a video review determined the puck crossed the goal line.
Wilson’s 30th goal made it 3-1 at 8:08 when he knocked in the rebound after Silovs made the save against Ilya Protas.
Acciari pulled the Penguins within 3-2 at 11:47, poking in a loose puck from in front of the crease.
Leonard answered 11 seconds later when he chipped in the rebound of Hutson’s shot at 11:58 to increase the Capitals’ lead to 4-2.
Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois crashed into the boards after setting up Leonard and left the game with an upper-body injury.
Hayes got the Penguins within 4-3 with 3:10 left in the middle period when he got the puck coming out of the penalty box, skated in and beat Thompson with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot.
Ilya Protas gave the Capitals some breathing room with a power-play goal at 5:56 of the third period when he tucked a rebound between Silovs’ pads to make it 5-3.
Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal at 16:22 for the 6-3 final.
–Field Level Media
