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		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals 5/9/2009</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:31:52 GMT</pubDate>
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			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Pens beat Caps 4-3 in OT, take 3-2 series lead]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON(AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins can say they have
outplayed the Washington Capitals and had the perseverance to
overcome a two-game deficit to take the series lead.

However, Sidney Crosby will be the first to admit that the
Penguins are ahead because the puck was deflected into the net
by a Capitals player in overtime. Twice.

Evgeni Malkin's pass to Crosby was broken up by sliding
defenseman Tom Poti, who then helplessly watched the puck sail
past goalie Simeon Varlamov 3:28 into overtime Saturday night,
giving the Penguins a 4-3 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern
Conference semifinals.

"These games come down to mistakes and bounces," Crosby said.
"And we got a good bounce there on the last goal."

The Penguins overcame a third-period deficit and survived Alex
Ovechkin's tying goal late in regulation before winning on
Malkin's power-play tally, which came with one second remaining
in the advantage. Malkin drawn a tripping penalty on Milan
Jurcina that stopped a possible breakaway.

The final goal brought flashbacks to Game 3, when Kris Letang's
winner was deflected in by defenseman Shaone Morrisonn.

"It's always hard when you play in overtime and you allow a
silly goal like this," Varlamov said through an interpreter.
"That's twice now. ... But winners make their own luck."

Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke also scored, and
Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for the Penguins, who have won
three straight after dropping the first two games. They can
advance Monday night in Pittsburgh.

Since 1991, Washington has lost five series in which it blew a
lead against Pittsburgh, including 2-0 advantages in 1992 and
1996. Maybe it was those ghosts that caused David Steckel to
blow an easy chance 19 seconds into overtime.

"First shift, Stecks missed an empty net," Ovechkin said. "I
said, 'Jesus, where is our luck?' The puck was bouncing, and
next they got a power play and scored a goal."

The Penguins became the first road team to win in the series,
and the first to win after scoring first. They also sustained
the momentum from Friday night's dominant 5-3 Game 4 victory.
Thanks to back-to-back games caused by a Yanni concert in
Pittsburgh, the young Capitals came home with little time to
regroup.

"We've been in this position before," said Washington coach
Bruce Boudreau, referring to the Capitals' rally from 3-1 down
to beat the New York Rangers in the first round. "It's a tough
hill to climb, but you've just got to think of it as one game."

Ovechkin got his ninth and 10th goals of the playoffs, and
Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals. Varlamov made 38
saves, rebounding from his first poor game of the playoffs.

Crosby, who entered with nine goals and 16 points in the
postseason, had a five-game point streak snapped, but that
hardly mattered for a Penguins team that was in danger of
missing the playoffs before Dan Bylsma took over as coach in
February.

"They showed it at the end of the season, they showed it in the
first round as well," Bylsma said. "There's a resolve in that
room. There's character. We had the belief going out (for
overtime) that we were going to get that goal."

Staal put the Penguins ahead 1-0 early in the second. Ovechkin
responded 59 seconds later with a blistering shot from beyond
the left circle that Fleury couldn't see. Ovechkin celebrated by
sticking his left index finger high in the air, and Penguins
defenseman Brooks Orpik appeared to object by raising his hand
toward Ovechkin's chest.

A penalty for too many men led to a Capitals goal late in the
second period. Backstrom worked a nice give-and-go with Sergei
Fedorov before beating Fleury.

The Penguins tied it early in the third on Fedotenko's shot from
the top of the left circle, then took the lead with 13:33 left
in regulation when former Capitals left wing Cooke lifted a
rebound over Varlamov.

Ovechkin tied it with 4:08 left in the third, but Malkin got the
final break in overtime.

"It's Malkin, so you can't give him too much time and space,"
Poti said. "It became a 2-on-1 and I tried to go down to take
the pass away and take away his angle coming to the net. He
tried to make the pass and it ended up going off my glove and my
stick or something. An unfortunate bounce."

Notes: Ovechkin leads the NHL in postseason goals. ...
Backstrom has scored in three straight games, and his goal gave
him the franchise record for consecutive games (8) with a point.
The previous mark was set by Geoff Courtnall in 1990. ...
Penguins D Sergei Gonchar, the victim of a knee-to-knee hit from
Ovechkin on Friday, was scratched, although Bylsma said the
injury was not as severe as initially thought. The Penguins
recalled rookie D Alex Goligoski from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
(AHL). ... Varlamov was briefly shaken up in the first minute of
overtime in a collision involving Crosby and Capitals defenseman
Brian Pothier.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96931-Pens-beat-Caps-4-3-in-OT-take-3-2-series-lead</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96931-Pens-beat-Caps-4-3-in-OT-take-3-2-series-lead</guid>
				<pubDate>Sun, 10 May 2009 03:38:20 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Penguins-Capitals Preview]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By ANDY LEFKOWITZ
STATS Editor

Pittsburgh At Washington, Game One, 7:00 p.m. EDT

The feeling of a playoff series slipping away to the Pittsburgh
Penguins is starting to feel awfully familiar to the Washington
Capitals.

The Capitals will try to stop Pittsburgh's momentum on Saturday
night at the Verizon Center in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference
semifinal series, less than 24 hours after the Penguins evened
it at home.

The Penguins are coming off a 5-3 victory on Friday in
Pittsburgh - and may have gotten into rookie goaltender Simeon
Varlamov's head at the same time. After trailing 1-0 just 36
seconds in, Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko
scored in an 11 1/2-minute span to make it 3-1 at the end of one
period.

Sidney Crosby added his team-high ninth playoff goal, and Max
Talbot also found the back of the net in the third period.

"We're right back in it and we have momentum on our side and
we'll try to keep it going," said the Penguins' Marc-Andre
Fleury, who stopped 19 shots.

Nicklas Backstrom, Chris Clark and Milan Jurcina tallied the
Capitals goals. Alex Ovechkin was held to an assist after
scoring five goals in the first three games.

"Alex is only human, he can't be unbelievable every night. He's
a great player, he just had one of those nights where he's not
going to get three goals," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said.

This scenario has been played out before between these clubs.
Pittsburgh was down 2-0 in a playoff series to Washington in
1992 before prevailing in seven games. The Penguins also lost
the first two games to the Caps in 1996 before moving on in six.

"We said we've got to get two at home and now we've got to try
to get one on the road," Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi said.

That may be difficult. Varlamov has been particularly
competitive at home in the playoffs, winning four straight after
dropping his debut, all while posting a 1.41 goals-against
average there.

The 21-year-old has allowed a total eight goals in two straight
losses. He had permitted only nine in a six-game playoff winning
streak before that.

"There were four soft goals out of the five," Boudreau said.
"But he'll bounce back. He's a real competitive guy."

Though the series is knotted up, both teams have major concerns
heading into what now is essentially a best-of-3. First, is a
short turnaround.

No teams in any playoff series this season has had to play on
consecutive nights. Three events in an eight-day stretch at
Mellon Arena  - a Yanni concert, WWE card and Dane Cook show -
forced the schedule juggling.

"It is a shame that both teams will have to play back to back
games ... because the Pittsburgh building - against NHL rules -
booked a series of concerts and forced the league to alter the
playoff schedule," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis wrote recently on
his blog. "This is bad for the league, both fan bases and for
the players.

Last year, the Caps played on successive days in their
opening-round series against Philadelphia and lost Game 7 in
Washington, 3-2 in overtime, a day after winning on the road.

In a statement, Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer echoed Leonsis' concerns
but offered no apologies.

"We agree ... that it is unfortunate when you have to play
back-to-back in the playoffs," the statement said. "However, it
has happened before, it is sometimes unavoidable, and it impacts
both teams equally."

A bigger concern is the health of Gonchar, the Penguins' top
offensive defenseman. He may not be able to play after being
leveled by a knee-to-knee hit from Ovechkin late in the first
period that several Penguins players labeled as dirty.

Gonchar - a 2006 Russian Olympic teammate of Ovechkin - couldn't
put any weight on his injured leg as he was assisted off the
ice.

"I just tried to move him and I hit him, he turned to move to
his left and, I don't know, I don't have time to realize what's
going on and he hit my knee," Ovechkin said. "I think it was an
accident. I'm not the kind of player who wants to injure guys,
especially ones I know like Gonch."

Game 6 is scheduled for Monday night in Pittsburgh.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96790-Penguins-Capitals-Preview</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96790-Penguins-Capitals-Preview</guid>
				<pubDate>Sat, 09 May 2009 04:57:49 GMT</pubDate>
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