Wilkes-Barre/Scranton call-ups Ryan Shea (5) and Jack St. Ivany (3) celebrate Shea’s first career NHL goal in the opening minutes of Pitsburgh’s win in Washington on Thursday.
Nick Wass | AP photo
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WASHINGTON — Ryan Shea scored his first NHL goal and Michael Bunting his fourth with his new team, Alex Nedjelkovic made 30 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Thursday night to move closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
With a third consecutive victory, the Penguins moved two points back of the Metropolitan Division rival Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, who with their win at Columbus jumped the Capitals, bumping them out of the East’s second and final wild-card spot. The Penguins, who were nine points out on March 24, have won five of six to get right back in the thick of the race.
Face of the franchise Sidney Crosby and longtime running mate Evgeni Malkin were a big part of much of this run. On Thursday, some new guys led the charge in a crucial showdown with major postseason implications.
Shea’s goal 25 games into his rookie season was also his first point in the league, Bunting continued to show why Pittsburgh got him back in the trade that sent Jake Guentzel to Carolina, and Nedjelkovic in his seventh start in a row continued to show why he has at least temporarily supplanted Tristan Jarry as the Penguins’ No. 1 goalie and been a big reason they have a chance of returning to the playoffs.
So, of course, is Crosby, who had 15 points in his past six games to drag the Penguins back into contention. While he and Malkin were held off the scoresheet by Washington, Pierre-Olivier Joseph also scored and ex-Capitals center Lars Eller had an assist and an empty-net goal against the team for which he got the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in 2018.
Despite Alex Ovechkin scoring on the power play for his 27th goal of the season and 849th of his career, the Capitals’ losing streak reached four, further endangering their chances of playing beyond the regular season. Charlie Lindgren, whose goaltending has carried them for the past month or so, struggled in allowing three goals on 23 shots with his heaviest workload in the NHL appearing to take a toll.
NBA
76ERS 109, HEAT 105
MIAMI — Tyrese Maxey scored 37 points, Joel Embiid added 29 and Philadelphia topped Miami to tighten the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Maxey was one rebound shy of a triple-double, finishing with 11 assists and nine boards for Philadelphia. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 18 points for the 76ers, who moved within a half-game of Miami for No. 7 in the East.
Terry Rozier had 22 points and Jimmy Butler added 20 for Miami, which entered the night No. 6 in the East but ceded that spot back to Indiana. Bam Adebayo had 14, Haywood Highsmith scored 12, Kevin Love had 11 points and 16 rebounds off the bench and Nikola Jovic added 11 points for Miami.
Embiid, in his second game back after missing two months following surgery on the meniscus in his left knee, shot 11 for 25, and the 76ers were outscored by 19 points in his 32-plus minutes.
Embiid checked out with 7:33 remaining and the Heat leading 100-93. It only seemed like the 76ers were in trouble.
By the time Embiid returned, Philadelphia had the lead for good. Oubre hit a corner 3-pointer with 3:30 left to put Philly back on top, part of a 14-2 run that wound up being just enough. Rozier hit a 3-pointer to get Miami within two, Butler missed what would have been a go-ahead 3 with 5.2 seconds left, and the 76ers escaped.
It was 88-87 Miami going into the fourth, which suggests that the first 36 minutes were close. They were not.
Those three quarters were just one wild mood swing after another. Philadelphia scored the game’s first 12 points and opened on a 17-2 run, and Miami put together a 25-6 run later in the half to take a 46-43 lead.
And then the ebbs and flows really started: Philadelphia went on a 20-1 run for a 63-47 lead, Miami scored the last eight points of the half — capped by a buzzer-beating 3 from Rozier — to get within 63-55, the 76ers led by as many as 10 in the third, then Miami went on a 17-0 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth to go up 95-87.
On a night of runs, the last one went to Philly.