PITTSBURGH -- Jiri Slegr's slap shot beat goaltender Olaf Kolzig with 4:32 remaining and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Monday night to seize a 3-0 Eastern Conference playoff lead.
Jan Hrdina scored twice as the seventh-seeded Penguins moved within a victory of ousting the second-seeded Capitals. Game 4 will be Wednesday night in Washington.The Capitals tied it at 3 on Calle Johansson's goal at 14:02, but Slegr won it less than two minutes later.
Washington is 0-6-1 since last winning at Pittsburgh in November 1997. The Penguins are 5-1 overall against the Capitals this season.
SENATORS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3: At Kanata, Ontario, Rob Zamuner's second goal of the game past an angry Curtis Joseph helped Ottawa end an eight-game playoff losing streak with a victory over Toronto.
The Leafs still lead 2-1 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 4 is Wednesday night at the Corel Centre.
Daniel Alfredsson and Colin Forbes also scored on Joseph, who faced just 15 shots and was given a misconduct penalty for abusing referee Mick McGeough after Zamuner's second goal, at 14:17 of the third period.
Steve Thomas, Dmitri Khristich and Jonas Hoglund beat Tom Barrasso, who made 31 saves.
Ottawa, swept last season by Buffalo, had not won a playoff game since a victory over Washington in the second round in 1998.
SHARKS 2, BLUES 1: At San Jose, Calif., Owen Nolan scored twice and San Jose broke a four-game home losing streak in the playoffs, defeating top-seeded St. Louis to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
The Sharks, who did not qualify for the playoffs until the final week of the season and went 0-4-1 against St. Louis during the regular season, have won the last two games of the series.
Game 4 of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday at San Jose.
The Blues, who had the NHL's best record in the regular season, got their only goal from Scott Young.
RED WINGS 2, KINGS 1: At Los Angeles, Sergei Fedorov and Tomas Holmstrom scored power-play goals as the Detroit defeated Los Angeles.
With Scotty Bowman behind the bench for his 99th playoff game as Detroit coach, the Red Wings took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference first-round series. Game 4 is Wednesday at Staples Center.
Detroit's Chris Osgood made 21 saves, allowing only Luc Robitaille's 49th career playoff goal and second of the series.
AVALANCHE 4, COYOTES 2: At Phoenix, Adam Deadmarsh scored twice in the third period, including an empty-netter with 24 seconds to play, and Colorado pushed Phoenix to the edge of elimination.
The Avalanche have a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 first-round Western Conference series. The Coyotes must win Game 4 at home Wednesday night to avoid their ninth consecutive first-round exit since 1987.
Patrick Roy was beaten on two of four power plays, but otherwise had 23 saves for his third straight victory and 112th in the postseason.
Shjon Podein and Joe Sakic also scored for the Avalanche. Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick had the Phoenix goals.