NHL playoffs: Penguins win in OT to take 3-0 lead; Blues also up 3-0

Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, including a goal at 13:10 of overtime, to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night and give them a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Bryan Rust added two goals for Pittsburgh, and Marc-Andre Fleury overcame a shaky first period to make 33 saves. Guentzel is the first Pittsburgh to rookie to get a playoff hat trick.

The defending champion Penguins will go for the sweep in Columbus on Tuesday night.

Cam Atkinson had two goals for Columbus, and Zach Werenski and Brandon Dubinsky also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky had 42 saves.

After only scoring two goals combined in the first two games of the series, Columbus scored three goals in just over six minutes of the first period.

But the Penguins regained their composure and pushed back hard during the second period to tie the score at 3-3.

at St. Louis 3, Minnesota 1: St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo said before the start of his team’s series against the Minnesota Wild that one player wouldn’t win or lose the series for his team.

Jake Allen is doing his best to prove his coach wrong.

The Blues’ goalie was outstanding for the third consecutive game, making 40 saves and Jaden Schwartz had the go-ahead goal in the second period to give the Blues a 3-1 win over the Wild on Sunday for a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

“He’s been unbelievable, a big reason why we got these three wins, and it gives us a lot of confidence,� Schwartz said of Allen.

“He’s in the zone and he’s really backstopping us right now. He’s making some big, timely saves, which gives us a lot of momentum.�

Montreal 3, at New York Rangers 1: Alexander Radulov had a goal and an assist to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday night, giving the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Artturi Lehkonen and Shea Weber scored power-play goals for Montreal and Carey Price stopped 20 shots.

Radulov, who got the overtime winner in Game 2 on Friday night after Tomas Plekanec tied it with 18 seconds left in regulation, has two goals and three assists in the past two games.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, coming off a playoff career-high 54 saves in Game 2, stopped 26 shots in this one.

Edmonton 1, at San Jose 0: Zack Kassian scored midway through the third period, Cam Talbot made 23 saves in his second straight shutout and the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 Sunday night in Game 3 of their first-round series.

The Oilers bounced back from an overtime loss in their first playoff game in 11 years to post consecutive shutouts and take a 2-1 series lead over the defending Western Conference champions. Game 4 is Tuesday night in San Jose.

Edmonton weathered a spirited start by the Sharks fueled in part by the return of Joe Thornton from a knee injury, then the Oilers took control and capitalized on a costly turnover to take the lead.