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Semin scores in OT as Capitals edge Stars

Oct 26, 2008 - 6:30 AM By John Tranchina PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DALLAS (Ticker) -- A pair of Russians combined to lead the Washington Capitals to victory, although neither was named Alex Ovechkin.

Sergei Fedorov scored two goals to become the NHL's all-time leader among Russian-born players and Alexander Semin netted the game-winner in overtime to lead the Capitals to a 6-5 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The reigning Hart Trophy winner, Ovechkin failed to record a point, but Washington still was able to snap a three-game losing streak.

Semin helped the Capitals avoid a disappointing loss, ripping a scorching wrist shot over goaltender Marty Turco's shoulder from the top of the right faceoff circle at 2:17 of overtime for his seventh goal of the season.

"Semin's got that shot. It's accurate and pretty tough to stop," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We've always been resilient. You can see the passion we have by how we reacted when we scored the overtime goal."

The Stars had forged a 5-5 tie with 57 seconds to go in the third period, when Mike Modano beat netminder Jose Theodore for his fourth tally.

With Turco on the bench for an extra attacker, Modano accepted a pass from behind the net by captain Brenden Morrow and slammed in the puck, sending the game to overtime.

"Brenden made a great pass," said Modano, who also added two assists. "No one was around me, so it was nice that it was a bang-bang play. I was able to get it off before they closed on me. We hung in there and got a point out of it, but we're not going to be too successful giving up five or six goals a night."

Fedorov passed Alexander Mogilny for first place on the all-time goals list among Russians with his 474th and 475th career tallies. Fedorov already owns the marks for assists (678) and points (1,153) by a Russian-born player.

"It's nice on a personal level, but most important was, we finally won a game," Fedorov said. "It's just a record. I'd rather talk about Alex than the record. I know his career was shortened by injury. I didn't expect to ever get it. We're the same age. He had a great shot and amazing hands."

"Sergei brings so much leadership to the table," Boudreau said. "He's a calming influence on the bench."

Semin also added two assists, while Tomas Fleischmann scored a pair of goals for the Capitals.

The Stars have surrendered four goals or more in each of their four home games this season.

"The goals against is a joke. There's a lot of guilty parties out there," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "Inch by inch, you have to evaluate your personnel. You have to evaluate the situations you're putting them in, you evaluate how your team's playing, who's making mistakes, who the repeat offenders are. We're going to pound away until we find a way to do it right."

Dallas opened the scoring on Sean Avery's first goal with the team at 10:19 of the first period, when the agitator drilled a long rebound past Theodore.

The Capitals answered on Fedorov's power-play goal just 2:19 later, as he found a loose puck in the high slot and ripped a wrist shot between a screened Turco's pads.

Washington took a 2-1 lead with 3:02 left in the first on Fleischmann's second goal of the season. Michael Nylander carried into the left corner before passing back to Fleischmann, who beat Turco on the short side with a wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle.

Rookie Fabian Brunnstrom, whose giveaway led to Fleishmann's goal, made amends soon afterward by netting for his team-leading fifth tally on a power play with just 9.6 seconds left in the first.

Fedorov scored his second of the game at 11:23 of the second period, taking a nice feed from Semin and sliding the puck between Turco's pads on a partial breakaway to make it 3-2.

The Capitals doubled the lead with 4:44 remaining in the second on Fleischmann's second of the night, a booming slap shot from the top of the right circle that sailed over Turco's shoulder.

Dallas responded just 39 seconds later, when B.J. Crombeen registered his first career goal. Defenseman Trevor Daley made a beautiful cross-ice pass to a charging Crombeen at the right post, and the rookie tapped it into the open net.

"I just got my stick on it and was fortunate for it to go in," said Crombeen, who also notched an assist. "I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we had gotten the win."