Phil Kessel and rookie Jake Guentzel, along with a goal by Matt Cullen and Evgeni Malkin. Nick Backstrom had two points for the Capitals. Holtby was pulled after stopping 11 of 14 shots, being replaced by backup Philipp Grubauer. Fleury stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Penguins in the game. The Capitals headed to PPG Paints Arena in a 2–0 series hole. They got the start they wanted in Game 3 as Backstrom put Washington ahead 1–0 in the first period on a five-on-three power play. It wasn't until the third period that the Capitals got an insurance goal with Kuznetsov's 2–0 goal 9:46 into the third period. With only a couple of minutes left in regulation, the Penguins were down by two goals and had been kept off the scoreboard, but that was short-lived, as Evgeni Malkin cut the Capitals' lead in half. That was followed by defenseman Justin Schultz firing the puck past Holtby to tie the game. Both of the Penguins' goals were scored while their own net was empty to make room for an extra skater. The Penguins headed into overtime with confidence, but their comeback fell short as Washington's defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored a power play goal in the extra session to cut Pittsburgh's series lead in half. This game was also noted for Capitals' defenseman Matt Niskanen's hit on Sidney Crosby; Niskanen was assessed five and a game misconduct. The NHL reviewed the hit, and deemed it not a dirty hit, so Niskanen did not face any discipline. In Game 4, the Penguins did not have Crosby in the lineup because of "concussion-related" symptoms. They did, however, jump out to a 2–0 lead after goals from Patric Hornqvist in the first period and Jake Guentzel in the second period. The Capitals roared back with two second period goals of their own, scored 1:12 apart from Kuznetsov and defenseman Nate Schmidt. Later in the period, John Carlson was called for roughing, putting the Penguins on the power play. Pittsburgh capitalized on the man advantage, with Justin Schultz getting the power play goal. The game went down to the wire, as the score remained 3–2 with just over a minute to play. In the final minutes, Oshie was called for high-sticking Nick Bonino, however, replays showed that Oshie's stick never even touched Bonino's face; regardless, Bonino did not receive an embellishment call. The Penguins held