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 began the day three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. 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. They 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 at when he got the puck coming out of the penalty box, skated in and beat Thompson with a wrist shot from the left face-off 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.
