The Pittsburgh Penguins scored three goals in a two-minute span of the second period last night and defeated the Washington Capitals 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena. Jake Guentzel put the Pens on the board with his 35th goal of the season, and Sidney Crosby would score less than a minute later. Crosby added his 33rd goal of the season on a Penguins power play one minute after that. Evgeni Malkin assisted on that goal, earning the 1,000th point of his NHL career. Phil Kessel scored in the third period on a power play and Jared McCann scored an empty-net goal to complete the game. Matt Murray stopped 38 of 41 shots.
The Pens have moved back into third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points in front of Carolina. They are two points behind the second-place New York Islanders and now four points behind the division-leading Capitals. The Pens visit Buffalo Thursday, then host back-to-back games this weekend.