PITTSBURGH - Sidney Crosby did what he always seems to do in big moments, scoring two quick goals in his return from a broken jaw.
He gave the Pittsburgh Penguins an early two-goal lead over the New York Islanders on Friday night. Then the Islanders responded, doing something they hadn’t managed in six years: win a playoff game.
Kyle Okposo provided his teammates some inspiration with a well-timed fight in the second period, and he capped New York’s rally with winning goal with 7:37 to play. The Islanders’ 4-3 victory evened the playoff series at one game each.
Game 3 is Sunday at New York. And instead of heading to Nassau Coliseum in danger of being swept, the Islanders have the momentum after a resilient 60 minutes.
“Our guys, they’re relentless,” New York Coach Jack Capuano said.
The Islanders needed to be after Crosby - wearing a plastic shield to protect the jaw he broke March 30 - scored twice in the first 7:37.
For a moment, the Islanders bench flash backed to a 5-0 loss in Game 1 when Pittsburgh struck for three early scores to take any drama out of the proceedings.
Capuano kept telling his players all it took was a bounce here or there to get back in it.
The critical bounce came in the third period. Okposo fired a shot wide of the net that caromed back to the crease, then rolled off Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and across the goal line to give New York its first playoff victory since April 14, 2007, against Buffalo.
“We’re in the series,” Okposo said. “We just wanted to come out and let them know that we’re not going away.”
Matt Moulson, Colin McDonald and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov overcame a sloppy start to make 30 saves as the youthful Islanders weathered Crosby’s comeback.
Doctors cleared Crosby to play late Thursday and the arena erupted when his familiar No. 87 skated onto the ice. Adding the league’s third-leading scorer to the lineup figured to make New York’s task all the more daunting.
The Penguins couldn’t muster much after Okposo’s first career playoff goal, and the Islanders spilled over the boards after toppling the Eastern Conference’s top seed as a solemn crowd trudged to the exit.
The end played in stark contrast to the beginning,when Evgeni Malkin staked Pittsburgh to a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the game when he poked in his own rebound over a sprawled Nabokov.
Crosby, who scored on an end-to-end rush in his comeback from concussionlike symptoms against the Islanders in November 2011, did not provide any points on his first shift.
Instead, he waited for his second.
Standing all alone on the post, Crosby tapped in a simple pass from Jarome Iginla to make it 2-0 before the game was four minutes old. The Islanders cut the lead in half when Moulson chipped a power-play goal past Fleury 7:04 into the period, but the momentum lasted all of 18 seconds.
That’s how long it took for the Penguins to win the next face off and have Crosby skate behind the net, then lifted a shot by Nabokov from just above the goal line.
Yet the Islanders, unlike in Game 1, did not succumb. Even as the Penguins were scoring, New York continued to generate quality opportunities.
In the second period, those opportunities turned into goals.
McDonald pulled the Islanders within one 5:12 when he stuffed a backhand underneath Fleury’s pads from a bad angle. Martin tied it just past the game’s midway point when he collected a wayward shot off the end boards and slammed it by Fleury.
BLACKHAWKS 5, WILD 2
CHICAGO - Patrick Sharp and Michael Frolik had two goals apiece, and the Chicago beat Minnesota in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Patrick Kane added two assists as Chicago peppered Minnesota goalie Josh Harding after an uneven performance in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Bryan Bickell added an empty-net score to his overtime goal in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 victory in the playoff opener.
Game 3 is Sunday afternoon in Minnesota.
Devin Setoguchi and Marco Scandella scored for the Wild, who are making their first postseason appearance in five years. Harding, once again subbing for Niklas Backstrom, made 43 saves.
The Blackhawks turned up the pressure in the third period, and Sharp stuffed one in from the right side of the net to restore the two-goal advantage. Kane then made a slick pass to set up Sharp for his 25th career playoff goal, putting the game away with six minutes left.
CANADIENS 3, SENATORS 1
MONTREAL - Ryan White started a three-goal second period and goalie Carey Price was back in top form with 29 saves as Montreal evened their playoff series with Ottawa.
Brendan Gallagher and Michael Ryder also scored for Montreal. Milan Michalek scored for Ottawa, which was let down by a power play that went 0 for 4.
At a glance FRIDAY’S GAMES
Montreal 3, Ottawa 1
Series tied 1-1
NY Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 3
Series tied 1-1
Chicago 5, Minnesota 2
Chicago leads series 2-0
San Jose 3, Vancouver 2, OT
San Jose leads series 2-0
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
NY Rangers at Washington, 11:30 a.m.
Washington leads series 1-0
Toronto at Boston, 6 p.m.
Boston leads series 1-0
Anaheim at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.
Series tied 1-1
St. Louis at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.
St. Louis leads series 2-0
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Pittsburgh at NY Islanders, 11 a.m.
Montreal at Ottawa, 6 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose, 9 p.m.
Chicago at Minnesota, 3 p.m.
Sports, Pages 26 on 05/04/2013