Matt Niskanen's goal and a key penalty kill kept the Pittsburgh Penguins' winning streak going.

Niskanen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Sidney Crosby had two assists and the host Pittsburgh Penguins extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in his NHL-leading 16th win of the season.

Crosby picked up his league-leading 36th and 37th assists for the Penguins, who were without reigning MVP Evgeni Malkin (shoulder) for the sixth game in a row. The Penguins were also without defenseman Kris Letang (lower body injury).

"Obviously it's an important time in the game and I thought the penalty kill did an amazing job of stepping up to the challenge," Niskanen said. "We created a lot of energy and some momentum from that."

The winning streak is the longest of the season for the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins. The Penguins are the first team in NHL history to have 10-game win streaks in three consecutive seasons.

"The importance is probably greater just because of a shortened season, but I think the good thing for us is that we're playing so many games and I don't think anyone is thinking a whole lot about it, we're just going out there and playing the way that we need to," Crosby said.

  • Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skated with his teammates Tuesday morning and is hopeful he can return to the
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    lineup later this week.

    Jets 3, Bruins 1: Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane scored 57 seconds apart in the third period, and host Winnipeg rallied to beat Boston.

    Blue Jackets 4, Predators 3: Sergei Bobrovksy shook off a slap shot to his mask and withstood two late goals as host Columbus beat struggling Nashville to extend its franchise-record point streak to 11 games.

    Sabres 3, Canadiens 2: Steve Ott's second goal of the game at 2:16 of overtime lifted Buffalo to a victory over host Montreal.

    Senators 5, Islanders 3: Sergei Gonchar scored with 1 minute left for Ottawa, which netted four goals in the third period and rallied to beat the host Islanders.

  • Senators coach Paul MacLean says forward Milan Michalek has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be out indefinitely.

    Rangers 3, Devils 2: Michael Del Zotto scored a short-handed goal and set up Rick Nash's game winner to lead the visiting Rangers to a victory over struggling New Jersey.

    Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1: Tomas Fleischmann, Marcel Goc and Shawn Matthias scored 6:12 apart in the third period to lead Florida past host Carolina.