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Semin caps offensive display in Capitals' shootout win

Jan 22, 2008 - 5:37 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- A trio of Russians showed that the team from the capital of the United States is indeed on the rise.

Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov each scored two goals and Alexander Semin netted the decisive tally in the shootout as the Washington Capitals extended their winning streak to four games with a 6-5 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

Ovechkin also set up a goal and rookie Nicklas Backstrom posted his second consecutive four-assist performance for the Capitals, who remained three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Southeast Division.

"It's one of the most important games in our season right now," Ovechkin said. "We were at .500, but we don't want to stop. We want to keep it going and move up in the standings. This is a big two points for us."

Neither team scored in the first round of the shootout and Pittsburgh defenseman Kristopher Letang rang a backhander off the crossbar in the second before Ovechkin used a nifty deke and slid the puck past goaltender Ty Conklin, giving Washington the advantage.

Jarkko Ruutu lifted a backhander past netminder Olaf Kolzig to keep alive the Penguins' hopes, but Semin used a move similar to Ovechkin's to give the Capitals their eighth victory in 10 games.

Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and set up another and All-Star defenseman Sergei Gonchar registered three assists for Pittsburgh, which placed captain and reigning Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby on injured reserve earlier in the day due to a high ankle sprain.

"It was, I think, a pretty good game," Malkin said through an interpreter. "High-scoring, lots of goals were scored, and I hope the fans had a good time tonight. We lost our best player Crosby, and you can't really replace him. Everybody, not just me, everybody, all four lines have to keep up with every game and we're going to try to play as a team our best every game."

Kolzig made just 10 saves but was under constant pressure in overtime as Pittsburgh had a pair of power-play opportunities in the extra session.

"We felt like with the way things were going tonight that we deserved to win the game," the former Vezina Trophy winner said. "If you look at the shots differential, the chances differential, all the numbers were on our side.

"I'm just so grateful we did win in the shootout because I didn't want to sit there and explain after the game why the goaltender didn't get it done for the team."

Kolzig can thank teammate Quintin Laing, who blocked three shots during Pittsburgh's power-play chances in overtime.

"I know we didn't have a great game," Laing said of Washington's penalty-killers, who allowed three goals by Pittsburgh. "So I wanted to do a good job there to get us into the shootout. The four of us banded together to kill those penalties. It was a big moment."

"I think when you have a 5-on-3 in overtime, you have to produce," Penguins right wing Petr Sykora said. "I think that was the difference in the game."

Maxime Talbot began the high-scoring affair 4 1/2 minutes into the first period, emerging from the right corner and sliding the puck under Kolzig from the side of the crease. The goal was Talbot's eighth of the season and first since December 5.

Tomas Fleischmann evened the contest at 10:43 with his sixth goal of the season, and Kozlov put Washington in front, 2-1, when he buried the rebound of Ovechkin's one-timer from the right faceoff circle with 3:56 remaining in the session.

The edge did not last long, however, as Malkin put a backhander from the left circle past a screened Kolzig 45 seconds later to forge a tie.

Ovechkin restored the lead for the Capitals 1:48 into the second, receiving a cross-ice pass from Fleischmann and one-timing the puck by goalie Dany Sabourin from low in the left circle for a power-play tally.

"They have a sick power play," Ruutu said. "They scored a couple of very nice goals."

But Malkin answered less than two minutes later with a man-advantage goal of his own. Last season's Calder Trophy winner skated down the middle of the ice and put a wrist shot under the crossbar at 3:34, capping his fifth multi-goal effort of the campaign.

Drafted second overall behind Ovechkin in 2004, Malkin has scored five goals in his last four games and nine in the last five home contests.

"Geno (Malkin) responded to the challenge," Gonchar said. "I know everybody was questioning if he was going to be able to play without Sid. I thought he did a great job. He was leading our team and he was a leader on the ice."

"He's our leader offensively (with Crosby out) and he is doing a great job at it," Penguins coach Michel Therrien added. "He is taking his role as leader very seriously. Like I said before, he did a great job in Montreal (on Saturday) and a great job tonight. He wants to bring his teammates to another level with the loss of Sid."

Sykora cashed in during another power play at 6:13 to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead, but Ovechkin beat Sabourin to the stick side with another one-timer from the left circle 1:45 later to again knot the contest.

The tally was Ovechkin's 38th of the season, moving him past Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for the league lead. It also chased Sabourin, who stopped only nine of the 13 shots he faced.

"It's just all about the team right now," Ovechkin said. "If I don't score and win, I'm happy for the team."

Shortly after Washington defenseman Jeff Schultz's apparent goal was waved off due to a hooking penalty on Matt Bradley, Pittsburgh took advantage of the infraction as Ryan Malone deflected Gonchar's wrister from the right point past Kolzig at 5:04 of the third for a 5-4 edge.

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was not pleased after video replay officials allowed Malone's goal to stand after reviewing whether it was deflected with a high stick.

"It looked like for a while, the gods were against us," he said. "It might have been a chinsy call, but I haven't seen it yet. It could have been very close to being a high stick. The ref thought it was a high stick and it was overruled in Toronto."

But Kozlov evened the game with 4:31 to go, beating Conklin with a one-timer from the slot during a power play for his second tally of the night to complete his second straight two-goal effort.

"We didn't stop," Ovechkin said. "We knew we could still score goals and win the game. We feel more comfortable now. We knew the game was still there for us to win."

"It was the type of game that coaches don't like," Therrien said. "We gave up a lot of goals. It's great for the fans, a lot of excitement. We were in a position to pick up two points tonight, but we took a bad penalty on their last goal. They scored and took advantage of it."

Conklin finished with 16 saves.