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Ovechkin, Capitals host Flyers for Game Seven

Apr 22, 2008 - 12:28 PM Philadelphia at Washington 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference quarterfinals Series tied, 3-3

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Not long ago, the Philadelphia Flyers looked to be in complete control of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. That all changed pretty quickly.

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals look to complete an improbable comeback as they go for their third straight win in Game Seven against the Flyers on Tuesday.

Trailing three games to one, the third-seeded Capitals have managed to string together back-to-back victories and force the winner-take-all showdown.

Ovechkin scored a pair of critical goals Monday when the Capitals evened the best-of-seven series at three wins apiece with a 4-2 triumph over the sixth-seeded Flyers in Game Six.

After Washington overcame a 2-0 deficit, Ovechkin caused a turnover in the Capitals' defensive zone before accepting a lead pass from Viktor Kozlov just after center ice.

The leading contender for the Hart Trophy, Ovechkin skated in on a breakaway and wristed the puck to the top shelf over Flyers netminder Martin Biron to make it 3-2.

Ovechkin struck again after the Flyers were whistled for having too many men on the ice midway through the third period. The Art Ross and Maurice Richard Trophy winner this season, Ovechkin accepted a feed from Brooks Laich and blasted the puck past Biron for his second goal of the game.

Rookie Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin also scored Monday while Cristobal Huet made 33 saves for Washington, which is looking to become the 21st team in NHL history to overcome a three-games-to-one deficit.

All-Star Mike Richards and Daniel Briere scored power-play goals and Martin Biron stopped 36 shots Monday for Philadelphia, which squandered a three-games-to-one lead to the Capitals 20 years ago - third time time in league history that it happened.

The last team to come back from that deficit in the NHL playoffs was the Montreal Canadiens, who rallied past the Boston Bruins in the 2003-04 Eastern Conference quarters.