WASHINGTON (AP) — The calendar said December. The intensity felt like late spring.The third meeting this season between longtime rivals Pittsburgh and Washington featured tight checking Wade Megan Jersey Womens , strong goaltending and more than a few punches. The Penguins won 2-1 on Wednesday night, yet the Capitals appreciated the ferocity with which the game was played.“It was a good game, especially this time of year, one with playoff mentality,” Washington goaltender Braden Holtby said. “We haven’t had one of those since Vegas.”Holtby was referring to the 2018 Stanley Cup finals, when the Capitals beat the Golden Knights to earn their first championship.Washington came in with five straight wins and a 12-2 record since Nov. 14.“Obviously, you don’t want to end up on the losing side, but I think we did a lot of good things tonight and both teams played really well,” Holtby said. “It’s one you can really learn from.”Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins. They were scuffling along with a 15-12-6 record before playing one of their best games of the season.“We’ve got to build on it,” Crosby said. “It’s a divisional game, a rivalry, a team that we’ve seen a lot, so these kind of intense, emotional games seem to bring out the best in us. We understand we need that same intensity Tobias Rieder Jersey Womens , same desperation every night if we want to win.”It was the third meeting this season between the rivals, each of which has been decided by one goal. Pittsburgh has won two of them. In this one, Crosby had a hand in both Pittsburgh goals and logged more than 22 minutes.Facing Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals is all the motivation Crosby needs to bring his game to a higher level.“When you play these rival-type games, there’s an elevated level of emotion associated with it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “My experience of being around Sid is that he’s at his best in those situations.”Rust broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period with his sixth goal in five games, and the Penguins held on behind goaltender Matt Murray, who stopped 31 shots.“They’re a heck of a team,” Murray said. “They won last year for a reason. They gave us all we could handle.”Ovechkin was held without a goal for the first time in seven games and had his career-high run of games with a point end at 14.In addition, Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov had his streak of eight straight games with an assist come to an end, one shy of the franchise record.Lars Eller put the Capitals up 1-0 at 6:38 of the second period, pushing the puck past Murray after taking a lead pass from Tom Wilson.Crosby tied it less than three minutes later, deflecting a pass from Evgeni Malkin into the right side of the net with Pittsburgh on the power play.Rust made it 2-1 with just over a minute left in the period, hacking away at the puck in front of the net before it finally popped Holtby.In the third period, Holtby snagged a shot by Malkin on a breakaway to keep Washington within striking distance.Twice over the final 20 minutes Mike Hoffman Jersey Womens , Kuznetsov took shots that slipped through Murray’s legs, only to be swatted away by Pittsburgh defensemen an inch before sliding past the goal line.Early on, it was apparent that this wasn’t just another midseason game. With less than a minute elapsed, Wilson and Pittsburgh defenseman Jamie Oleksiak shed their gloves and got into a fight. Oleksiak was helped off the ice with a cut on his cheek, and both players received five-minute penalties. Oleksiak did not return.Four minutes later, Ovechkin and Kris Letang traded blows behind the Pittsburgh net before being sent to the penalty box for roughing.The scoreless first period featured more penalty minutes (18) than shots on goal (17).NOTES: The Capitals’ run of 14 straight games with at least three goals ended. … Crosby took over the team lead in points with 38. Crosby, Phil Kessell and Malkin all entered with 36. …. The Capitals fell to 9-4-3 when taking at least 30 shots. … Pittsburgh has earned point in seven of nine games and 12 of 16. … Crosby has 35 goals and 63 assists in 73 games against the Ovechkin-led Capitals. Ovechkin has 46 goals and 37 assists in those games.UP NEXTPenguins: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.Capitals: Host Buffalo on Friday night, a rematch of Saturday’s game won by Washington in overtime. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck delivered the dominant performance he needed with backup Laurent Brossoit nipping at his net.Hellebuyck made 37 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators 5-1 on Thursday night to stay alone atop the Central Division in a midseason showdown between rivals.“I like this rink, too,” Hellebuyck said. “Good memories here, too. Something about this place, it just suits my style I guess. I was excited. I was excited to play tonight, and I think it showed.”Hellebuyck improved to 21-13-1 with a big win after Brossoit moved to 10-1-1 with a win over Vegas on Tuesday night.The Jets leave Nashville four points ahead of the Predators with two games in hand. Their final two meetings this season are at Winnipeg in March. The Jets edged Nashville in seven games in the second round of the playoffs last year.Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said Hellebuyck was really Peter Budaj Jersey Womens , really good.“He had two or three glove saves that you have to make because this building, it’s like ours,” Maurice said. “If the home team scores a goal, you saw when they scored a goal it got going in here. He kept the building quiet with two, three really important saves.”Brendan Lemieux had two goals for the Jets, who won their fourth straight game. Mason Appleton, Bryan Little and Brandon Tanev also scored. Sami Niku and Joe Morrow each added two assists.“This was one of those games that you circle on your calendar and know it’s going to be a fun one, so I was looking forward to it and it was awesome,” Lemieux said. “Our line played great. It’s good. It’s always good when you can chip in offensively.”Viktor Arvidsson scored his fourth goal in two games for Nashville, which has lost three of four.The Predators had won five of the last six against the Jets on home ice, not counting that playoff series in which Winnipeg took three of four in Nashville to reach the Western Conference final. Nashville shut out Winnipeg 3-0 on Oct. 11.“It was a big game for us,” Predators captain Roman Josi said. “They are right in front of us. They are obviously a great team in our division. It was a big game for us and definitely not happy with the result, but then we’ve got to learn from it.”Nashville started strong, swarming Hellebuyck in the opening minutes. Yet Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead when Lemieux finished off a wraparound by squeezing the puck between the post and Pekka Rinne’s left skate midway through the first period for his fourth this season.The Jets thought they had a 2-0 lead on a wrister by Blake Wheeler late in the period Andrew Hammond Jersey Womens , but Nashville won its challenge that Winnipeg was offside.Nashville started the second on a man advantage only to see Winnipeg quickly get the goal back. Rinne turned away a backhand from Niku on a breakaway, then 30 seconds later Appleton went to the net and redirected the puck into an open net for a 2-0 lead at 3:36.Arvidsson, who had his second career hat trick in a 7-2 win over Washington on Tuesday night, nearly got Nashville on the board with a breakaway. But Hellebuyck made a save that caught the person in charge of the goal horn off guard, already trying to start the celebration.“It wasn’t even close,” Hellebuyck said. “That’s kind of rude.”Arvidsson got his sixth goal in five games at 11:57 of the period with a wrister off a rebound to pull Nashville to 2-1.Little gave Winnipeg a 3-1 lead with 45.6 seconds left in the period, swatting the puck past Rinne off the rebound of Patrik Laine’s shot.Tanev made it 4-1 when he redirected a shot by Niku at 1:54 of the third. Lemieux got his second at 15:38.“They are a fast team, and they are big,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s not like we’ve never beaten the Jets. They’ve always been this way. Tonight they had their game. They were better.”NOTES: The Jets had lost back-to-back road games but have not lost three straight on the road in regulation since December 2016. … Little extended his point streak to seven games. He has five goals and four assists in that span. … The Predators are 6-15-3 when allowing the first goal. … Arvidsson has 25 points (18 goals, seven assists) in 25 games played this season. His goal tied him with Washington’s Alex Ovechkin , averaging .72 goals per game for best in the NHL.UP NEXTJets: Visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday.Predators: Host the Florida Panthers on Saturday.