National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 5, Washington 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees: Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Julien Fournier, Libor Suchanek
Attendance: N/A

Sidney Crosby swept in a rebound 1:11 into overtime Tuesday for his third point as the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to top the visiting Washington Capitals 5-4.

Crosby notched the 17th OT tally of his career, tying Ilya Kovalchuk for third in NHL history. He trails only Alex Ovechkin (23) and Jaromir Jagr (19).

Pittsburgh won consecutive games between the clubs in Pittsburgh, the first a 4-3 decision in a shootout Sunday.

Jake Guentzel and Teddy Blueger each had a goal and an assist while Colton Sceviour and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins. Kris Letang and Crosby each had two assists.

Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith made 22 saves and picked up his first career assist.

Tom Wilson scored twice, Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored, and Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves for Washington.

The Penguins played the scoreless third period with four defensemen after Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola got hurt.

Eller opened the scoring off the rush, putting a shot over DeSmith's glove for a 1-0 Capitals lead at 4:55 of the first.

Pittsburgh tied it at 16:52 of the first when Kasperi Kapanen, in his Penguins debut, blew into the Washington zone. Sceviour scored on the rebound of Kapanen's shot.

Six seconds later, Wilson put the Capitals up 2-1 with a shot that popped off DeSmith's shoulder.

Wilson struck again with 16.3 seconds left in the first when he drove to the net and converted a pass from the left-wing boards by John Carlson to make it 3-1.

Pittsburgh's special teams had a special second period, logging a five-on-three goal, a three-on-five short-handed goal and a conventional man-advantage goal.

The sequence started with Guentzel, who swept the puck past Vanecek after a pass across the top of the crease from Bryan Rust while the Penguins had a two-man advantage to cut it to 3-2 at 5:45.

Kuznetsov scored off a rebound of a shot by Daniel Sprong to restore Washington's two-goal edge, 4-2, at 8:16.

With the Capitals on a two-man advantage, DeSmith lobbed a clearing pass into the neutral zone, springing Blueger on a breakaway. Blueger put the puck under Vanecek's pads at 15:07 to make it 4-3.

The Penguins tied it on Malkin's slapshot from the top of the right circle during a power play at 17:15.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Pittsburgh
Tom Wilson 2 Points Sidney Crosby 3
Tom Wilson 2 Goals Sidney Crosby 1
John Carlson 1 Assists Sidney Crosby 2
N/A Power Play Goals Jake Guentzel 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Teddy Blueger 1
Vitek Vanecek .833 Save Percentage Casey DeSmith .846
Vitek Vanecek 25 Saves Casey DeSmith 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Washington 26 4 0-2 1-3 6 23
Pittsburgh 30 5 2-3 2-2 4 39
Upcoming Games
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game at home against NY Rangers. The Penguins have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Capitals have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .000 after a loss.