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Ovechkin, Caps rally to beat Oilers

Dec 20, 2009 - 6:55 AM EDMONTON, Alberta(AP) -- Bruce Boudreau wanted to see more from Alexander Ovechkin in the third period. The Washington coach certainly got it.

Ovechkin scored his 22nd and 23rd goals early in the third period, and Tomas Fleischmann added the go-ahead goal in the Capitals' 4-2 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

"I challenged him and started him right off the bat in the third and he came through," Boudreau said. "The reason he is the best player in the planet is that instead of going, 'Woe is me, why is the coach yelling at me?' he took up the challenge and said, 'I'll show you' and got three points and led us to the victory."

Ovechkin drew the Capitals within a goal at 32 seconds of the third, then tied it at 6:37 with a sharp-angle shot that eluded goalie Jeff Deslauriers.

"Here's a guy who is the most dangerous player in hockey and you let him walk out a restricted area and get a couple of whacks at it," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "The second one was a great athletic play. Great players can do those sort of things to you sometimes. Based on our first couple periods we should have had a better result. We should have expected a better result and that's what is disappointing."

Ovechkin responded to Boudreau's prodding.

"We made them feel pretty good about themselves," Ovechkin said. "Then Bruce came into our dressing room and gave us a bad time. But in the third, I feel like I'm on fire. ... I'm not happy how I played even if I scored two goals. That's not how I want to play or how I want my line to play."

Fleischmann gave Washington the lead with 6:47 left, and Ovechkin helped set up Nicklas Backstrom's goal with 3:41 to play.

Michal Neuvirth made 26 saves for his first victory in three games this season.

Shawn Horcoff and Andrew Cogliano scored second-period goals for Edmonton.

With the victory, the Capitals (22-8-6) reached 50 points in a franchise-record 36 games. The previous record of 37 games was set in 1984-85 - before the NHL started awarding points for losses after regulation.

NOTES: Washington made its first visit to Edmonton since Oct. 28, 2006. ... The Oilers (15-16-4) have lost three straight. ... Delauriers started his 14th consecutive game with starter Nikolai Khabibulin sidelined indefinitely by a back injury.