Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby tucks the puck in the net past Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson as Senators' Viktor Stalberg defends during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals, Friday, May 19, 2017, in Ottawa, Ontario. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby tucks the puck in the net past Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson as Senators' Viktor Stalberg defends during the second period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals, Friday, May 19, 2017, in Ottawa, Ontario. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) Credit: ap — Sean Kilpatrick

Ottawa — Maybe Matt Murray was the magic elixir the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offense needed.

Murray’s return as the Penguins’ starting goaltender coincided with a better offensive performance and ultimately a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Friday at Canadian Tire Centre.

With the series tied at two wins apiece, Game 5 will be Sunday back in Pittsburgh.

The decision to start Murray — who stopped 24 of 26 shots — over Marc-Andre Fleury for this one was hardly easy.

A case could be made that it was the most difficult call coach Mike Sullivan had to make all season. Earlier in the day, he showed little interest in discussing the specifics.

Although he was touched for two goals, Murray mostly looked like the goaltender who backstopped the Penguins to a Stanley Cup last season and won 32 games during the regular season in 2016-17.

His rebound control was especially good early, with pucks sticking to him. Other times, Murray strategically funneled shots to the outside. Never was he flipping or flopping or giving anyone reason to be concerned.

Not bad when you consider this was Murray’s first start since April 6, when he said he felt something pop and then reinjured whatever it was during warmups before the first game of the playoffs.

As a result of Friday’s win, the Penguins improved to 12-2 in the playoffs under Sullivan after a loss.

With Ottawa buzzing as a result of a goal late in the second period, Murray made three keys stops in a 17-second stretch early in the third, on Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Tom Pyatt.

Held to two or fewer goals in six consecutive games and in seven of their past eight, the Penguins got goals from Olli Maatta, Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin.

They hadn’t reached the three-goal mark since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Washington, but they turned in their most aggressive performance so far in this series, finishing with 35 shots on goal.

Preds’ Johansen Done

Anaheim, Calif. (ap) — Nashville center Ryan Johansen will miss the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs after emergency surgery on a left thigh injury, leaving the Predators without their top postseason scorer heading into Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

The Predators announced the injury on Friday after the club traveled to Anaheim to face the Ducks tonight.

Johansen was injured during the Ducks’ overtime victory in Game 4, which evened the series.

The smooth forward leads the Predators with 13 points in 14 playoff games while centering their top line with Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson.

Johansen scored 61 regular-season points to match Arvidsson for the team lead.

Surgery for Sharks’ Ward

San Jose, Calif. (ap) — San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward had surgery on his injured right shoulder and is expected to be completely healed for the start of next season.

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said on Friday that Ward had dealt with a minor shoulder injury during the season and recently opted for surgery instead of rehab.

Wilson made his announcement a day after Ward appeared at an Oakland Athletics baseball game with a sling on his injured arm.

Ward had a significant drop in production in his second season with the Sharks. He finished with 10 goals and 19 assists a year after recording 21 goals with 22 assists.