In Pittsburgh, the Penguins surrendered a 3-+0 lad on Saturday evening, and needed a goal from Evgeni Malkin with 80 seconds left on the game clock for a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals. 
Casey DeSmith made 31 saves in the Pens win.
Pittsburgh improved to 36-27-10 off their second win in three games.
“We need to play a better third period, for sure,” Malkin said. “We lead 3-0. Lots of drama in the third period. My goal, I just try to do my best. … Finally, it gives me confidence, for sure. It’s a huge goal for me and two points for the team.”
The Pens are now three points clear of the Florida Panthers for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
With the Pens leading 3-0 in the third period, the Capitals reeled off three straight to tie the game, 3-3.
Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin scored to get the Caps within one at 3-2.
“The game spins quick out there,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “Things turn around, they come back at you really quick. I thought we did a great job of just staying focused and getting back into that game. It’s frustrating to tie it up and have it go the other way.”
Dylan Strome tied the game at 17:16.
“We still have a couple games against the Islanders. There’s not going to be any quit here,” Wilson said. “I think that’s kind of been our mentality for the last month or so. We’re just trying to work as hard as we can and see what happens. Doesn’t change now.
“Obviously, that was a big game, but we’ll move past it. We have to get ready for playing for our lives. Every point matters.”
Washington dropped to 34-32-8 on their fourth loss in five games.
“It’s a tough one,” Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. “It just wasn’t a good enough 60 minutes against a good hockey team over there. Odds were stacked against us a little bit tonight, and we weren’t able to find our game until maybe a little too late.”
Following a scoreless first period, the Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead on a strike by Ryan Poehling.
“I think tonight it was just a weird game,” Poehling said. “We ended up getting a win. Coming down the stretch, these games are hard. You can’t make mistakes.”
Chad Ruhwedel scored at 12:17 of the middle frame to give the Pens a 2-0 advantage headed to the third.
“It was an emotionally charged game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “There were moments in the game where I thought we were really good. There were moments in the game, not so much. I think the most important thing is, especially this time of year, that we walked away with two points.”
Jake Guentzel scored off the power play with 27 seconds of fresh ice used in the third period for the 3-0 Pittsburgh lead.
Darcy Kuemper made 36 saves in the Caps loss.
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