Ovechkin gets help in Capitals’ win

Alex Ovechkin contributed a power-play goal, yet it was his unheralded teammates on the Washington Capitals who made the difference in Game 1 of their showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tomas Fleischmann scored the tiebreaking goal with 18:14 remaining, rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov stopped 34 shots, and the Capitals got the jump on their Eastern Conference rivals with a 3-2 victory Saturday at Washington.

David Steckel contributed his first goal of the playoffs to help Washington to its first four-game winning streak in the playoffs since 1991.

Sidney Crosby and Mark Eaton scored for the defending Eastern Conference champion Penguins, who were 0 for 5 on the power play after going one for 18 in the final four games of their first-round series against Philadelphia.

Chicago 6, Vancouver 3: Patrick Sharp scored twice to tie it and David Bolland put the visiting Blackhawks ahead with a short-handed breakaway to tie their second-round series at a game apiece.

Down 2-0 after power-play goals by Sami Salo and Alexander Edler in the first seven minutes, Chicago took over with a strong second period.