Ovechkin, Capitals hold off Penguins to end 4-game skid

PITTSBURGH -- Alex Ovechkin scored, and the Washington Capitals held on to end the Pittsburgh Penguins’ six-game point streak with a 4-3 win at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves, and Rasmus Sandin had two assists for the Capitals (18-11-6), who had lost four in a row (0-2-2). They led 4-0 late in the first period.

"Best start of [2024]. New year, new start,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “We'll take it. I'll say great start, then we kind of maybe relaxed a little bit. ... In the third, I think we played a solid game.”

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (18-14-4) to reach 1,540 points (571 goals, 969 assists), passing Joe Thornton (1,539) for 12th in NHL history.

Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell each also had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which was 5-0-1 in its previous six. Alex Nedeljkovic made 14 saves in relief after Tristan Jarry allowed three goals on seven shots and was pulled 13:02 into the game.

“I didn’t think ‘Jars’ had his best, but I didn’t think the team had its best either early in the game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “For me, that’s the moral of the story. I loved our compete level and climbing back in the hockey game. We certainly made it a game. But we can’t spot a team those types of goals early on.”

Tom Wilson put Washington ahead 1-0 at 55 seconds of the first, ending an eight-game goal drought on a snap shot that went just under the crossbar.

Beck Malenstyn made it 2-0 at 11:16, shooting off the stick of Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Graves and in over Jarry.

Martin Fehervary extended the lead to 3-0 at 13:02 with a wrist shot from the high slot, resulting in Jarry being pulled.

Chad Ruhwedel had a goal disallowed for the Penguins at 16:33 after the Capitals challenged for offside.

Ovechkin made it 4-0 on the power play at 19:18 with a wrist shot through traffic. It was his eighth goal of the season, second in two games and third in six games. He had five in the first 29.

Rakell cut it to 4-1 with four seconds left in the period on a one-timer set up by Erik Karlsson.

“Would have liked to finish that period the right way,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “I think, that last shift, we get away from it in a couple of instances there. Next thing you know, it's in the back of our net. That was a big moment. Now they have a little bit of life going into that intermission [and] then, obviously, the second (goal) in the second."

Crosby scored on the power play to pull Pittsburgh within 4-2 at 9:11 of the second period. He dropped to one knee to redirect a shot from Guentzel before putting the puck in on a second swipe out of midair.

Guentzel then cut it to 4-3 at 18:54 by chipping in a pass from Crosby at the left post.

“The start wasn’t great, but we still had our chances for it to be an even game,” said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain. “A lot of time to get back into it. I just think we were on our toes more. ... I thought we did it the right way. We didn’t give up a ton to get back in it. We were pretty smart that way.”

The Capitals were outshot 30-11 in the final two periods, including 7-0 in the last 12:21. Kuemper stopped Evgeni Malkin’s hard slap shot from just above the right face-off circle with six seconds left.

"I think we came out, we were playing really well,” Wilson said. “Maybe one of our best periods of the year. We made it a little harder on ourselves than we probably needed to. It was weird. We were playing really well. They get that late one in the first. Then there's a power play. Kind of a weird one there and then they're right in the game.

“I think it's the classic with Pittsburgh, you have to control the moments a little bit better. They're a momentum-driven team. So we have to do a better job just managing some of those moments."

NOTES: Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game for the 16th time, which is the most by opposing No. 1 picks in the NHL Draft, and the first time since Nov. 7, 2018. Ovechkin was the No. 1 pick in 2004, and Crosby was selected No. 1 the following year. ... Penguins forward Bryan Rust had one shot on goal in 16:47 of ice time after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. ...  Pittsburgh forward Reilly Smith had one shot on goal and played 16:06 in his 800th NHL game. ... Fehervary played 22:17 in his return from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday.