H.S. boys basketball: Crestwood takes down Hanover Area, 61-36

Local sports roundup: Hazleton Area takes down Berwick, 51-21

PITTSBURGH &#8212; T.J. Oshie scored twice and added an assist as the Washington Capitals spoiled Mike Sullivan&#8217;s head coaching debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-1 win on Monday night.Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists for Washington. John Carlson added his fifth goal of the season for the Metropolitan Division leaders. Braden Holtby stopped 44 of Pittsburgh&#8217;s season-high 45 shots.Evgeni Malkin scored his team-leading 14th goal but the Penguins failed to keep pace with Washington in Sullivan&#8217;s first game since taking over for Mike Johnston. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves, but captain Sidney Crosby was held without a point and Pittsburgh&#8217;s power play went 0 for 2.The Penguins fired Johnston on Saturday with Pittsburgh off to a sluggish start and unable to separate itself in the middle of the congested Metropolitan Division thanks in large part to an ineffective power play and Johnston&#8217;s apparent inability to connect with his roster of high-profile stars.Enter Sullivan, who went 70-56-15 in two seasons coaching the Boston Bruins between 2003 and 2006 and has spent most of the last decade bouncing around as an assistant. Pittsburgh hired him over the summer to coach its American Hockey League affiliate but turned to Sullivan to lead the big club, hoping his no-nonsense approach would resonate in a dressing room that general manager Jim Rutherford said has underachieved during his 18-month tenure.There are no such issues in Washington, which is off to the best start in the franchise&#8217;s 41-year history by finding a way to both take advantage of Alex Ovechkin&#8217;s dynamic offensive play while also paying attention to detail at the other end of the ice.Sullivan stressed he doesn&#8217;t think the Penguins need to be rebuilt so much as refocused. The opening minute of his tenure seemed to prove his players were listening, as Crosby centered an electrifying opening shift that produced a couple of quality chances.Then the adrenaline faded and the reality set in. Washington needed just more than 7 minutes to build a two-goal lead. Backstrom took a backhand feed from Oshie and cruised down the slot before beating Fleury over his glove. Carlson scored his fifth of the season 7:04 into the first by flipping his own rebound past Fleury as Pittsburgh&#8217;s defense scrambled to protect the front of the net.Malkin&#8217;s slick redirect off a shot from Ben Lovejoy pulled Pittsburgh to 2-1 by the end of the first, but Holtby withstood a steady barrage and, when Oshie tucked a nifty wraparound past Fleury 8:50 into the third period, Washington was on its way to a third straight win in Pittsburgh.The Capitals are 11 points clear of their rivals in the standings more than a third of the way through the season.NOTES: Pittsburgh made defenseman Rob Scuderi a late healthy scratch and then shipped him to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for D Trevor Daley. &#8230; Former Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis said he is at peace with his decision last week to retire due to medical concerns. The 36-year-old Dupuis was attempting to come back from blood clots that forced him to miss most of the 2014-15 season when he decided last Tuesday continuing to play wasn&#8217;t worth the risk. &#8220;The selfish way of doing this would have been to ignore all the signs and push everything aside and to just keep playing,&#8221; Dupuis said. &#8230; Pittsburgh forward Beau Bennett left in the first period after getting knocked into the boards by Oshie. Bennett did not return. &#8230; Washington hosts Ottawa on Wednesday. Pittsburgh begins a home-and-home series against the Bruins on Wednesday in Boston.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Will GravesAP Sports Writer</bylineMeta></div>

Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan loses in Pittsburgh Penguins debut