The road back to the Stanley Cup Final took two very different turns for the Penguins and Predators at the start of the second round.

Back-to-back defending champion Pittsburgh roared back from a two-goal Adidas Jason Pominville Jersey , third-period deficit to beat the Washington Capitals, while the Winnipeg Jets chased Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne in a convincing 4-1 victory in Game 1. As each team prepares for Game 2, two key pieces could be ready to help.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin practiced Saturday and is on the verge of returning to the lineup after missing the past two games with an apparent leg injury. Coach Mike Sullivan called Malkin a game-time decision, though signs are pointing to the Russian star playing Sunday at Washington (3 p.m. EDT, NBC).

”If I’m playing, I’m ready to play,” Malkin said. ”If you play, you need to show you can, you show you’re 100 percent. It’s not like the regular season. You can’t play slow the first period and be better in third. If I play, if I’m ready, I’m ready first shift.”

Predators winger Auston Watson skated just seven first-period shifts Friday night before leaving with an undisclosed injury. His teammates outshot the Jets 48-19 and still lost, though a healthy Watson for Game 2 back in Music City (7 p.m., NBCSN) could make a difference as the defending Western Conference champions try to even the series between the NHL’s top two teams.

”Getting this squared up before we go to Winnipeg is definitely important Authentic Quenton Nelson Jersey ,” said Watson, who felt great and called it a good practice. ”We’ll do our best to take care of business.”

The Penguins and Predators each took care of business in six games in the first round. Malkin had three goals and two assists in five games before being injured against Philadelphia, and the line of Colton Sissons, former Pittsburgh center Nick Bonino and Watson combined for 19 points in beating Colorado.

It’s impossible to overstate Malkin’s value to the Penguins. Top-line winger Jake Guentzel called Malkin’s potential return a ”game-changer,” restoring one of their most dangerous options on the power play and at even strength after a season in which the 31-year-old forward put up 98 points.

Malkin skated on the fourth line between rookie Zack Aston-Reese and Tom Kuhnhackl at practice and on the first power-play unit. If he plays, it wouldn’t be in a limited role.

”Putting Geno on the fourth line? Probably not,” Sullivan said. ”We’ll try to put him in a position where he can play to his strengths, be successful as an individual and help our team win.”

Just as the Penguins drew on two long playoff runs to come back against the Capitals, the Predators need only look up at their Western Conference champions banner in the rafters as they try to rebound.

”We just have to keep having that bounce-back mentality we’ve had since I’ve been here for two and a half years,” center Ryan Johansen said. ”We’re looking forward to tomorrow night’s game because we know we’re going to get a great response from everybody in here.”

A FOR DISCIPLINE

Referees combined to call three penalties each in Game 1 of Penguins-Capitals and Jets-Predators. Nashville was the most-penalized team in the league during the regular season but hasn’t taken one its past two games.

”We’re trying to get better in a lot of different areas,” coach Peter Laviolette said. ”And you hope that through the course of fixing some things, continuing to do things right that you like, fixing some things Authentic Dontae Johnson Jersey , staying out of the penalty box, whatever it may be that at the end of the night you’ll be able to move forward from that. There are some things that I guess are going in the right direction.”

The strength of the Washington and Pittsburgh power plays has those teams watching themselves and trying to avoid time in the sin bin.

”I think both teams go into the series trying to be disciplined for that reason,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. ”You don’t want to give the power plays an opportunity to have an impact in the game.

HELLEBUYCK SHINES

Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top goaltender, starred for the Jets in making 47 saves in Game 1. In a breakout year for the 24-year-old, it was the kind of game that showed Winnipeg it has someone ready to take on the best in the West.

”There’s great difficulty in a lot of the saves and finding the puck in those scrums, but he’s built for that,” coach Paul Maurice said. ”He’s a big man that moves well and tracks well in traffic – especially close traffic. So he’s capable of that kind of game in that kind of environment.”

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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.

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Lou Lamoriello moved quickly to shake up the New York Islanders by firing coach Doug Weight and general manager Garth Snow and naming himself the team’s new GM just two weeks after taking over as president of hockey operations.

Lamoriello made the moves Tuesday that begin to reshape the organization in his image, two weeks to the day ownership said he’d have ”full authority over all hockey matters.” Lamoriello left the Toronto Maple Leafs to run the Islanders and will begin the search for a new coach immediately.

”It’s my opinion that at this point there’s a culture change that’s needed and there’s new voices needed in different areas and because of that, the changes (were) made,” Lamoriello said on a conference call with reporters. ”There’s been a lot of changes for different reasons Brian Urlacher Jersey Youth , and right now is just trying to stabilize anything, start off with a fresh face, start off with a fresh mind, a fresh coach and just go forward.”

The end of Snow’s tenure seemed inevitable after owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin brought in Lamoriello to oversee the hockey operations department. Snow was previous owner Charles Wang’s hire.

The Islanders missed the playoffs eight times in Snow’s 12 years as general manager, including the past two seasons. He has four years left on the contract he signed when Wang still owned the team.

”Both Garth, who is a personal friend and one who I’ve known for a long time and also Dougie who played for me in `96 and `98, I have tremendous respect for,” Lamoriello said.

This latest front-office development comes with the Islanders at a crossroads this summer. The face of the franchise, John Tavares, can become a free agent July 1. The team took one step toward making Tavares feel comfortable about re-signing by planning a permanent home at Belmont Park after spending the last three seasons playing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but the direction of the organization still threatens to push the superstar center to leave.

Lamoriello said Tavares’ situation ”certainly has not and did not enter into any of the decisions that are made.”

Tavares, who would be the top free agent on the market, had a good relationship with Weight Youth Robert Griffin III Jersey , who was his teammate for two seasons and assistant coach and GM from 2011 until he replaced Jack Capuano as head coach in January 2017. Weight just finished his first full season as Islanders coach.

The Islanders now have the only coaching vacancy in the NHL. Asked what kind of coach he’d like to hire, Lamoriello essentially only alluded to the fact that Weight was not the guy he wants behind the bench.

”Not every coach is for every team and not every team is for every coach,” Lamoriello said. ”If we had that coach, he would be in place.”

In a statement Lamoriello thanked Snow and Weight and the team said they would remain with the organization. Specific roles and responsibilities for them have yet to be determined, though Lamoriello said, ”I feel they can be valuable in me picking their brain, asking their opinion in certain areas.”

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno at .