Associated Press
PITTSBURGH ó Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, Pittsburgh scored three times in less than 12 minutes in the first period and beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Friday night to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at 2.
Game 5 is Saturday night in Washington.
The Penguins have a chance to do what they did against the Capitals in 1992 and 1996, when they trailed 2-0 in both series only to rally to win. Washington trailed the New York Rangers 3-1 in the first round before winning the next three games.
Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the first for Pittsburgh to quickly turn a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead. Gonchar was helped off the ice late in the period after a knee-on-knee hit from Alex Ovechkin. There was no immediate word about the injury, or how long it would sideline the defenseman.
Max Talbot also scored for the Penguins.
Nicklas Backstrom, Chris Clark and Milan Jurcina scored for the Capitals. Ovechkin, constantly shadowed by defenseman Rob Scuderi, was shut out for the first time in the series. Ovechkin was held to two shots.