OTTAWA – Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Marian Hossa scored in the third period to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, taking a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

Maxime Talbot scored in the second period and Hossa also had two assists to push his former team to the brink of elimination one year after beating Pittsburgh in five games on its way to the Stanley Cup finals.

Game 4 is Wednesday night at Scotiabank Place.

Crosby got the tiebreaking goal 12 seconds into the third, stunning the Senators’ crowd with his first goal of the playoffs after busting in on a 2-on-1 break and snapping a shot that beat Martin Gerber stick side.

Staal made it 3-1 just 1:18 later, crashing the net and redirecting Kristopher Letang pass behind a helpless Gerber. Hossa capped the comeback with a power-play goal at 8:55.

Ottawa couldn’t capitalize on the return of injured captain Daniel Alfredsson, a surprise addition to the Senators’ lineup. Alfredsson, who hadn’t played since he was injured on April 3, was given a standing ovation when he took his first shift 42 seconds into the first period.

The Swedish star hadn’t even practiced with his teammates before deciding to take the warmup and suit up for the game. He didn’t look anywhere close to 100 percent, gingerly making his way around the ice and trying his best to avoid the high traffic areas.

Nick Foligno scored 1:11 into the second to give Ottawa its first lead of the series after beating Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury down in the five-hole.

Predators 5, Red Wings 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jason Arnott scored with 3:58 left in the final period, the second Nashville goal in 9 seconds, and the Predators rallied to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 to get back into the first-round series.

Ryan Suter tied the game just 9 seconds earlier, putting a slap shot from the left side past Dominik Hasek, who had dominated the Predators for most of the game and the series. Martin Erat scored an empty-netter with 41 seconds left to seal the come-from-behind win.

Nashville, which trails 2-1, will look to tie the series in Game 4 on Wednesday night, and the series will then shift back to Detroit on Friday.

Detroit had outshot Nashville in each of the first two games of the series. Combined with the past two seasons, the Red Wings had outshot the Predators in 12 consecutive games.

After managing only three goals against Hasek through the first two games of the series, the Predators came out shooting early and often against the 43-year-old goaltender. And the strategy paid off.

Nashville outshot Detroit 29-26 and scored two more goals than it had in the first two games combined.

, avoiding an 0-3 hole that only two teams in NHL history have ever come back from.

Pavel Datsyuk scored 40 seconds into the final period to give Detroit a 3-2 lead, and Detroit looked prime to take a strangle hold on the series.