Penguins 4, Capitals 3: Chris Kunitz scored and set up a goal and Evgeni Malkin had three assists as visiting Pittsburgh won its third straight contest.

Brandon Sutter recorded his third short-handed goal for the Penguins, who salvaged the finale of the four-game season series with Washington and moved one point behind the second-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division. Patric Hornqvist scored for the fourth time in three contests, captain Sidney Crosby added a power-play tally and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 21 saves.

Captain Alex Ovechkin converted on the power play for his league-best 39th goal with the Capitals, who have dropped two in a row following a four-game winning streak. Troy Brouwer and defenseman John Carlson each scored and set up a goal and Braden Holtby yielded four goals on 26 shots after stopping 90-of-91 attempts in the first three meetings versus Pittsburgh this season.

Malkin skated into the offensive zone before leaving a drop pass for Hornqvist, who wristed a shot from the right circle that sailed past the blocker of Holtby to open the scoring 7:04 into the first period. Sutter doubled the advantage with 1:27 left in the session, deflecting Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen's pass at the other end of the ice before chasing down the loose puck and backhanding a shot past Holtby.

Carlson's sharp wrist shot from the point trimmed the deficit with nine seconds remaining in the first period, but Crosby regained Pittsburgh's two-goal advantage by beating a screened Holtby from upper edge of right circle at 3:16 of the second. Brouwer and Kunitz scored three minutes apart before Ovechkin's one-timer from above the left circle brought the Capitals back within one with 3:34 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Malkin has recorded three goals and five assists on his four-game point streak. ... Pittsburgh acquired Daniel Winnik from Toronto for fellow C Zach Sill, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft and a second-round selection in the 2016 draft. ... Carlson's 10th goal tied a career high, set last season. ... Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff logged 18:34 of ice time in his return to the lineup after missing 12 games with a concussion.