Vegas holds strong to take series lead on Jets

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs continues Friday with a couple of underdogs trying to scrap for new life in their rivalry series to start the postseason. On Wednesday, things got underway with the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins rolling all over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Vegas Golden

Pittsburgh had won two straight after losing the opener of the best-of-7 first-round series, but New York dominated from start to finish in Game 4. Now, it’s a best-of-3 series.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby prefers the NHL forego the rest of the regular season and head directly to the playoffs if games resume during this pandemic-interrupted spring. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is on the same page, saying he’d even be willing to finish two goals short of his ninth 50-goal season, which would tie the NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. ”Of course, you want to score 50, but right now, like everyone is saying, the most important thing is to stay safe and to get this thing done,” Ovechkin said Thursday.