PENGUINS 7, FLYERS 0
PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins sent a message in their playoff opener.
The Penguins captain got his third career postseason hat trick, Evgeni Malkin added a highlight-reel goal and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions rolled over the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 on Wednesday night to take quick control of their first-round series.
Crosby batted a shot out of midair and past Philadelphia goalie Brian Elliott in the second period for his first goal, tapped in one from the doorstep against Petr Mrazek 7:41 into the third and then deflected in another just over three minutes later as the Penguins dominated their cross-state rivals from the opening faceoff of Game 1.
Jake Guentzel had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust and Carl Hagelin also scored. Matt Murray stopped 24 shots for his third straight playoff shutout.
Game 2 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.
Elliott stopped 14 of 19 shots and was pulled in favor of Mrazek after Crosby's latest bit of wizardry pushed Pittsburgh's lead to 5-0 just 9:01 into the second. Mrazek wasn't much better, getting beaten by Crosby twice more as Philadelphia's return to the playoffs after a one-year absence started with a thud.
Elliott stopped Kris Letang's slap shot with his blocker only to see the long rebound go right to Rust, who ripped it over Elliott's right shoulder to give the Penguins the lead 2:38 into the game.
Philadelphia's best chance at staying in it came minutes later, but Scott Laughton whiffed on his first attempt from the doorstep and Murray made a sprawling glove save on Laughton's second try to preserve Pittsburgh's lead.
Moments later, Hagelin expertly redirected Patric Hornqvist's shot past Elliott 10:07 into the game. Malkin drew a hooking penalty to negate a Pittsburgh power play, and when he emerged from the penalty box, he whizzed past three Flyers in one sequence, darting by Jakub Voracek, slipping past Claude Giroux and then fending off Shayne Gostisbehere before flicking a backhand past Elliott to put the Penguins up 3-0 before the series was 15 minutes old.
All that before Crosby got involved.
Brian Dumoulin's shot from the point fluttered after hitting a stick. Enter Crosby, who reached out and swatted it like a tennis player sending a two-handed backhand down the line. It zipped past a stunned Elliott.
Crosby's last two goals weren't quite as dramatic, though they did pull him into a tie with team owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the franchise record for the most career hat tricks in the playoffs.
JETS 3, WILD 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Defenseman Joe Morrow broke a tie with 6:13 left and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 for the first playoff victory in Jets franchise history.
In its only other playoff appearances since joining the NHL in 1999 in Atlanta, the franchise was swept in 2006-07 by the New York Rangers and 2011 by Anaheim.
Nikolaj Ehlers set up Morrow at the point for a one-timer that beat goalie Devan Dubnyk. Morrow was acquired at the trade deadline from Montreal in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick this summer.
Mark Schiefele, with a power-play goal, and Patrik Laine also scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves.
Matt Cullen and Zach Parise scored for Minnesota, and Dubnyk stopped 37 shots.
Game 2 is Friday night in Winnipeg.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1, KINGS 0
LAS VEGAS — Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for his 11th career playoff shutout, Shea Theodore scored in the first period and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings to win the franchise’s first playoff game. The expansion franchise will try to take a 2-0 lead in its first-round playoff series Friday night.
Fleury got his first playoff shutout since last May, when his Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Theodore put a wrist shot past Jonathan Quick 2:23 into the game. Quick stopped 27 shots.
At a glance
Best-of-7
FIRST ROUND
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Pittsburgh 7, Philadelphia 0
Pittsburgh leads series 1-0
Winnipeg 3, Minnesota 2
Winnipeg leads series 1-0
Vegas 1, Los Angeles 0
Vegas leads series 1-0
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
New Jersey at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.
First game of series
Toronto at Boston, 6 p.m.
First game of series
Columbus at Washington, 6:30 p.m.
First game of series
Colorado at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
First game of series
San Jose at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.
First game of series
Sports on 04/12/2018