Penguins 3, Capitals 1

Mike Sullivan knows his team is "wired" for offense, as tends to happen when you have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and — increasingly — Jake Guentzel on your roster.

Yet the Penguins have proven during their two-year run atop the NHL they know what they're doing at the other end of the ice, too, playing with a discipline that's more grit than glamour.

Their hopes for a historic three-peat remain alive because of it.

Guentzel scored twice and the Penguins held Washington star Alex Ovechkin without a shot on goal for just the third time in 107 career playoff games to grind out a victory in Game 4 on Thursday night to even their typically taut Eastern Conference semifinal.

Pittsburgh held Washington to three shots total in the third period.

"It's like we played Game 7 tonight," said Malkin, who scored from his belly late in the second period to put Pittsburgh in front to stay. "Unbelievable."

Well. Not exactly.

This is what tends to happen when the two longtime rivals meet in the postseason. Washington edges ahead and the Penguins respond immediately, one of the main reasons Pittsburgh is 9-1 all-time against the Capitals in the playoffs.

Plenty of work remains to be done for Washington to shrug off the weight of its ignominious history and for the Penguins to push their bid for a three-peat to the next round. Yet Pittsburgh laid down the blueprint over three periods that were decidedly tamer than the Game 3 chaos caused in large part by Washington forward Tom Wilson's illegal high hit that left rookie Zach Aston-Reese with a broken jaw and led the league to suspend Wilson for three games.

While Sullivan downplayed the impact of Wilson's absence, the pushing and shoving was largely kept to a minimum save for a scrap between Pittsburgh's Kris Letang and Washington's T.J. Oshie as Guentzel skated down the ice to flip in an empty-net goal with 58 seconds to go.

For the Penguins, the stakes — as they so often have during Sullivan's tenure — far outweighed any search for retribution.

"We understood it's a huge game for us," Malkin said.

Instead the teams head to Washington for Game 5 on Saturday night all tied up, the ninth time in 11 postseason meetings the series will go at least six games. Same as it ever was.

Oshie scored Washington's lone goal — a shot from the slot on the power play 12:55 into the second that knotted the score at 1 — and Braden Holtby finished with 21 saves but the Capitals couldn't sneak anything else by Murray, who stopped 20 shots just two days after putting together an admittedly "shaky" performance in Game 3.

The guys in front of Murray made his job relatively easy. The Penguins blocked 13 shots and rarely let Washington put together any sustained pressure.

Devante Smith-Pelly replaced Wilson on the top line with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, but Pittsburgh kept the clamps on. Ovechkin failed to put a single puck on net, though Washington coach Barry Trotz downplayed Ovechkin's ineffectiveness.

"Trust me, Ovie will get his shots," Trotz said.

He's going to have to if he wants to keep pace with Guentzel. A year after scoring a playoff-high 13 goals while helping the Penguins to a second consecutive Cup, the slender 23-year-old is once again thriving in May.

Guentzel gave the Penguins the lead 9:21 into the second period when he stood on the doorstep and banged home a rebound of Dominik Simon's shot for his ninth of the playoffs and his 20th point of the postseason. Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in 1988 are the last two players to reach 20 points in 10 or fewer postseason games.

"I just kind of feel like the (pucks) are going in right now," Guentzel said.

Guentzel has a league-leading 10 playoff goals, joining Mario Lemieux as the only NHL players to reach double digits in their first two career postseasons.

The 23-year-old, however, is still learning. He committed a slashing penalty after putting the Penguins in front, and Oshie's shot from the slot 12:55 into the second tied it.

Malkin went to his belly to put Pittsburgh back in front with 2:33 to go in the second. The Russian star flung himself at the puck during a scrum in the crease, the puck just flitting over the goal line following a scramble. There was no initial goal call on the play, reminiscent of a sequence in Game 2 in which the red goal light remained unlit after Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist jabbed at it from in front.

Replays in Game 2 proved inconclusive and the Capitals held on. This time, the review was kinder to the Penguins. Video clearly showed the puck inching across the line, and it stood after the Capitals challenged claiming goalie interference.

"It's a good goal, we're happy," Malkin said. "Sometimes it's a bad call against us. Sometimes it's a good call. But we're looking at the next game. We understand it's not over."

Crosby also failed to get a shot on goal but had two assists.

Pittsburgh forward Carl Hagelin played 16:11 while wearing a full face shield in his return from an upper-body injury that forced him to miss the first three games of the series.

Predators 2, Jets 1

Pekka Rinne made 32 saves, P.K. Subban and Ryan Hartman scored, and Nashville held off a late charge by Winnipeg to win and even their second-round series through four games.

Patrik Laine scored off a faceoff in the final minute, but Nashville's Nick Bonino won two key faceoffs after that to end it.

Game 5 will be Saturday in Nashville, with Game 6 set for Winnipeg on Monday. Game 7, if necessary, would be in Nashville next Thursday.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots, but Nashville snapped Winnipeg's 13-game home winning streak, which dated to March 2.

Rinne allowed five goals amid a series of defensive miscues in a 7-4 Game 3 defeat. He rebounded impressively behind a team that was much sharper in its own end.

The Jets found far less space in the neutral zone, but also saw a couple of golden opportunities bounce over their sticks.

The Predators led 1-0 after the first period and stretched their lead with 5:24 left in the second when Subban blasted a one-timer on Nashville's first power play.

Booed by the thunderous white-clad crowd every time he's touched the puck the last two games, Subban seemed to feed off the noise. It was Subban's third goal of the series after being held without one in the first round.

The Jets had a couple of great chances to tie it earlier in the period. Kyle Connor missed on a pass from Bryan Little in the slot on a power play, and Mark Scheifele let the puck skip over his stick on a 2-on-1 with Blake Wheeler moments before Subban silenced the crowd with his goal.

Laine scored on a 6-on-4 with 50.2 seconds left in the third — his third of the playoffs and first of the series — but the Predators held on from there to wrestle back home-ice advantage.

Nikolaj Ehlers was back on the Jets' top line alongside Scheifele and Wheeler after switching spots with Connor following Tuesday's disastrous opening 20 minutes when Winnipeg fell behind 3-0. Connor once again skated with Laine and Paul Stastny.

Nashville opened the scoring with 2:40 left in the first when Hartman scored his second of the playoffs off a scramble in front. An attempted clear by Winnipeg's Ben Chiarot in front instead went off defense partner Tyler Myers and directly to Hartman, who beat Hellebuyck up high.

The teams traded chances earlier in the period, with Hellebuyck stopping Roman Josi and Scott Hartnell on 2-on-1 breaks, while the butt end of Rinne's stick stopped Josh Morrisey's backhand chance along the ice at the other end.

The Jets inserted winger Joel Armia into the lineup after he missed the first three games of the series with an upper-body injury. Rookie forward Jack Roslovic was a healthy scratch.

Hartnell stepped in for Kevin Fiala, who scored in double overtime for Nashville in Game 2. The Predators also dressed defenseman Yannick Weber in place of Alexei Emelin.

Notes

Bill Torrey dies at 83

Bill Torrey, the jovial bow-tie wearing Hall of Famer who was the general manager of the New York Islanders when they won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s and eventually became the first president of the Florida Panthers, has died.

Torrey died at his home in South Florida on Wednesday night, the NHL said. He was 83.

No cause was immediately revealed, though he was not known to be in any sort of poor health. Torrey, who spent the last several years of his career as an advisor to Florida general manager Dale Tallon and also serving as the franchise's alternate governor, was at work like usual in his Panthers' office earlier this week.

"Bill was a giant of our game," Tallon said. "He was the architect of a dynasty, a Hockey Hall of Famer and most importantly, a committed family man. I'm heartbroken by the news of his passing. Bill was a mentor and a dear friend who was instrumental in bringing me to South Florida to work alongside him. He was a wonderful person who never lost his passion for the game and loved being at the rink."

Torrey left an indelible impact on hockey, particularly the Islanders and the Panthers.

He was the first employee in Islanders history when the franchise was born in 1972, and the team raised a banner in his honor years ago calling him "The Architect." Torrey then became Florida's first president, and the Panthers gave him a banner in 2010 with the number "93" — a nod to 1993, when the team played its first game.

"He was a pioneer, who became a mentor and even better friend, to so many in the industry," Islanders president and general manager Garth Snow said. "The teams he constructed set records that may never be broken, including the four straight Stanley Cup Championships and 19 straight playoff series wins."

Florida reached the Stanley Cup final in 1996 under Torrey, falling to Colorado. Earlier that season, Torrey went into the Hall of Fame as a builder who specialized in taking expansion teams and turning them into quick winners.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman called Torrey "a true legend of our game."

"His imprint is on virtually every team in our league, as he personally mentored and inspired generations of NHL general managers who have followed him and established the team-building blueprint based upon scouting, drafting and player development that today remains the model for lasting success," Bettman said.

Brian Burke, a longtime hockey executive, asked Torrey for some advice in the early 1990s and remembered getting about a four-sentence answer on how to build a club.

Burke never forgot any of those words, and they became the guide that he's used ever since — even when putting together the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team that lost a classic gold-medal game against host Canada at the Vancouver Games.

And what Torrey did, Burke said, will never be matched.

"Bill Torrey won four consecutive Stanley Cups with the Islanders," Burke said in 2011. "It'll never be done again. In a salary cap system I think you're lucky to win two Cups in 10 years. But you'll never win four in a row again with this format."

William A. Torrey was born June 23, 1934 in Montreal. He attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, studying business and psychology. His first hockey front-office job was with the AHL's Pittsburgh Hornets in the 1960s, and his NHL career started in 1967 when he was hired as executive vice president of the California Seals — another expansion club.

He went to the Islanders in 1972, then to the Panthers in 1993 and never left.

"An original Panther and the forefather of our franchise, Mr. Torrey had a champion's spirit and lived for the game," Panthers owner Vincent Viola said. "His indomitable energy and his commitment to hockey and to South Florida was inspiring. It was an honor to work with him and know him."

Torrey is survived by four sons, a brother, a sister and 10 grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been revealed.