PITTSBURGH (AP) Lost amid Sidney Crosby’s latest attempt to win the NHL batting title and Evgeni Malkin’s one-on-three brilliance during the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ clinical dismantling of the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 is this: The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions played pretty well in their own end Authentic Robert Woods Jersey , too.That may be the most frightening aspect going forward for the Flyers and the other 14 teams hoping to end Pittsburgh’s run at history.While it’s easy to point to Matt Murray’s 24 saves – including a fabulous diving stop on Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton in the first period that preserved a one-goal lead and set the stage for the blowout to come – it’s the little things the Penguins did that caught the attention of head coach Mike Sullivan.Pittsburgh blocked 24 shots before the puck even got to the net. The defensemen in front of Murray turned Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds into a bystander. Philadelphia went on the power play four times and failed to produce a single scoring chance.Yikes.”It was just a commitment to defend and play the right way,” Sullivan said.One the Penguins understand they’ll need to repeat in Game 2 on Friday night. For all of their dominance on Wednesday night, it still only counts as one. Last spring they drilled Ottawa 7-0 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals to go up 3-2 in the series only to lose Game 6 two days later.”We know we’re going to see their best,” said Crosby, whose third career playoff hat trick in Game 1 started with a backhanded swat out of the air from in front that knuckled past Philadelphia’s Brian Elliott and into the net to put the Penguins up five.It’s unlikely the Flyers could play much worse. Coach Dave Hakstol publicly endorsed sending Elliott back out for Game 2 in the immediate aftermath despite giving up five goals on 19 shots before getting pulled. Hakstol declined to elaborate on his plans Thursday, though he’s well aware Elliott’s play was not Philadelphia’s only issue.”We just had too many holes and if you have holes in your game, that team is going to drive a truck through them,” Hakstol said.Philadelphia returned to the playoffs this spring thanks in part to its resilience. The Flyers went nearly a month between victories while enduring a 10-game losing streak that spanned November and early December and then dropped seven of eight to start March before sprinting to third in the crowded Metropolitan Division.”Nothing’s easy this time of year,” Elliott said. ”A close loss feels the same as a lopsided one. We all didn’t get to this level by not going through some type of adversity like this. It’s just a matter of fact of going back to work and having the confidence we can definitely be better than we were.”Another loss would put Philadelphia in a perilous spot going home. The Flyers haven’t beaten Penguins once all season, getting outscored 27-11 in the process. Going down two games would require them to take down the reigning champions four times in nine days. Good luck with that.”We’ve got to be sharper,” Hakstol said. ”That usually means you’ve got to be quicker and execute a little bit better. You can probably apply that to a lot of our game.”Some things to watch Friday night:—Wild at Jets, Winnipeg leads 1-0 (7:30 p.m. EDT, USA)It took Winnipeg nearly two decades to win the franchise’s first playoff game. If the Jets can do it twice in three days, they’ll have firm control against sloppy Minnesota.The Wild let a third-period lead get away in Game 1, with the Jets getting the tying goal and the winning goal off Minnesota giveaways. The Wild understand they need to be smarter in their own end. Minnesota has won just one series in franchise history after dropping the first two games.”I think in reality we had seven pretty bad minutes from the time we scored the second goal to the third goal,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”But it was a pretty even game after that. And I think we can play a lot better.”The young Jets feel likewise. Having a crammed and raucous Bell MTS Place certainly helped.”You saw the crowd last night, it was unbelievable,” said 22-year-old defenseman Josh Morrissey. ”We had a lot of energy built of that. For us, it was a big comeback win and we won and we’ve got to keep going.”—Kings at Golden Knights, Vegas leads 1-0 (10 p.m. EDT, NBCSN)The expansion Golden Knights looked every bit ready for the playoffs when they rode goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a 1-0 victory in Game 1. The Kings will be without defenseman Drew Doughty for Game 2, suspended by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Vegas forward William Carrier.Doughty appeared lower his shoulder into Carrier’s head, connecting with his jaw, sending the Golden Knights wing to the locker room for the remainder of the game.”I thought it was a bad hit Robert Woods Jersey Elite , but it’s not for me to decide,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”The referee didn’t think it was a penalty but I’m sure people will look at that hit and make a decision on it.”The Kings outhit Vegas 68-59, though some Los Angeles players scoffed at the notion Game 1 was an overly physical.”It was a physical game, (but) I don’t think there was nearly as many hits as the stats credited,” Los Angeles wing Dustin Brown said. ”Some buildings you can kill a guy and not get credit for a hit.”— WASHINGTON (AP) The good news for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals is they still lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bad news for the Capitals, counterintuitive as it may be: They host Game 4.So far, Washington is 7-1 in away games this postseason, closing out each of its first two series on the road.Heading into Thursday night, the Capitals are only 3-4 in their arena. The latest setback was a 4-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, after victories at Tampa Bay by a combined score of 10-4 in the final’s opening two games.Ovechkin simply shrugged when asked about that discrepancy.”We don’t think about it,” the three-time NHL MVP said. ”We just play our game.”Others were less dismissive.”We can take a few things that we’ve done on the road and put it into our home game,” goalie Braden Holtby said. ”Just a little simpler. Simpler play. Just a kind of, like, more gritty style.”Asked what his club could do to fare better at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said: ”Just play the way we do on the road. We’re invested there. We’re playing with real good focus. I didn’t think we were as focused as we have been normally on the road. So just pretend you’re on the road. All the buildings are pretty well the same these days.”Trotz notices a difference in his players’ attitude on home ice, saying: ”It’s `us against the world’ when were on the road.”There is a league-wide trend here: Road teams are 38-34 in these playoffs.So much for any supposed home-ice advantage, right?”For whatever reason, at this time of the year there are more distractions than in the regular season, for sure. A lot of people have friends and family coming down and ticket requests. Sometimes there’s that little added pressure of playing at home and wanting to obviously do good things in front of your fans,” Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. ”There’s something to be said, too, (for) winning games on the road, when you can just kind of hear a pin drop in the crowd, sometimes http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/leonard-fournette-jersey-cheap , which is always a good thing.”Holtby agreed.”It’s easier to play on the road. It’s always that way on the road. Any team would say that,” he said. ”Because you’re not focused on the excitement of your fans and all that. They bring you energy in good ways, but at the same time, you need to stay realistic and play your game.”During the regular season, Washington was a strong home team, playing in front of loud, red-wearing sellout crowds in every game.Only five teams in the 31-club NHL had more victories at home than Washington’s 28 – and that total represents seven more wins than the Capitals managed on the road.So what is going on in the playoffs?”I don’t really have an explanation for it, to be honest with you,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. ”I know when we go on the road, I think maybe we feel a bit more relaxed, and when we do make mistakes, maybe we don’t let the groaning affect us or whatnot. I mean, that being said, I think we should be probably mentally stronger to not let that affect us. Just got to try to find a way to win the next one at home, for sure.”NOTES: Injured Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who has missed the last four games with an injured right hand, took part in the team’s optional skate Wednesday. But Trotz wouldn’t give any hint as to when Backstrom might return. ”When Nicky’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” Trotz said. ”You miss him in every way shape or form.” … Washington re-signed D Aaron Ness to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 if he’s in the NHL, $425,000 in the minors. Ness had one assist in eight games for the Capitals this season.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.—