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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Too much talent. Too much skill. Too much composure.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reached the NHL Eastern Conference finals and will play either the New York Rangers or Boston Bruins. James Neal had his first playoff hat trick as the Penguins eliminated Ottawa in five games, 6-2. The Penguins are in the conference final for the first time since 2009.

Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Brenden Morrow also scored for the Pens. Tomas Vokoun (voh-KOON') made 29 saves as top-seeded Pittsburgh strolled to the next round.

MIAMI (AP) — This time Indiana didn't wilt in the final seconds.

After losing the NBA Eastern Conference finals opener in overtime to Miami, the Pacers kept their composure until the end and escaped with a 97-93 win over the Heat to even that series at a game apiece. All five Pacers starters hit double figures led by Roy Hibbert's 29 points and 10 rebounds.

Paul George scored 22 points, George Hill added 18 and David West finished with 13 for the Pacers.

LeBron James scored 36 points for the Heat, who got 17 points from Chris Bosh and 14 from Dwyane (dwayn) Wade. The Heat led 88-84 in the fourth quarter, then were outscored 13-5 the rest of the way.

Game 3 will take place Sunday night on the Pacers home court. The Pacers are 6-0 at home this postseason.

By the way, if you have wondered just how dominating the Heat have been this season, this was just their fourth loss in their last 50 games.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pioneering Washington journalist Haynes Johnson, who helped redefine political reporting, has died at age 81.

The University of Maryland, where Johnson was a journalism professor, reports that he suffered a heart attack Friday while at a Bethesda, Md., hospital. He had attended the journalism college's graduation days earlier.

Johnson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1966 for coverage of the civil rights struggle in Selma, Ala. Johnson spent about 12 years at The Evening Star in Washington before legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee hired him away in 1969.

Besides reporting, Johnson was a columnist at the newspaper from 1977 to 1994.

Johnson was the author, co-author or editor of 18 books. He also appeared regularly on the PBS programs "Washington Week in Review" and "The NewsHour."