NEW YORK – Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak and defenseman Olli Maatta all scored in the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to edge the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 and move ahead in their first-round playoff series Monday. Defenseman Brooks Orpik also scored for the Penguins, who came back from a 3-1 deficit for the second time in the series. The Blue Jackets won the franchise's first playoff game Saturday and appeared set for their second until Pittsburgh struck three times in a two minute, 13 second span in the third period to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves while Jack Johnson scored his third goal of the series. Wild 1, Avalanche 0 (OT): Center Mikael Granlund scored 5:08 into overtime as the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche to record their first win of their playoff series after two losses in Denver. Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper had a 22-save shutout for the Wild, who dominated throughout the game but could not get a shot past Semyon Varlamov until the extra session. Varlamov made 45 saves for the Avalanche and faced 22 shots in the first period alone, a Minnesota franchise playoff record. Game Four is in Minnesota Thursday. Stars 3, Ducks 0: Captain Jamie Benn, rookie Valeri Nichushkin and center Ryan Garbutt all scored goals as Dallas returned home and shook off two straight playoff losses in their first-round series with Anaheim. Dallas cut Anaheim's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series with Game Four set for Wednesday. Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped all 37 shots he faced for his first career playoff shutout and victory. Lehtonen was 0-4-0 in his short playoff career heading into Game Three. Anaheim was down to five healthy defensemen early in the second period after veteran Stephane Robidas was upended in front of the Dallas goal by Garbutt 42 seconds into the period. He suffered a leg injury and did not return. Blackhawks 2, Blues 0: After losing the first two games of a first-round Western Conference playoff series against the St Louis Blues, a return to home ice was the winning formula for the Chicago Blackhawks. An early goal from center and team captain Jonathan Toews, coupled with an empty-net insurance score with 20 seconds left by center Marcus Kruger, helped Chicago cut their series deficit to 2-1. Game Four is also in Chicago Wednesday. Toews missed the last two weeks of the regular season with an upper-body injury, and had been relatively quiet upon his return for the first two games of the first round. Corey Crawford stopped 34 shots in the shutout as the Blackhawks came alive. – Reuters
