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Bradley completes late rally with OT goal for Capitals

Sep 23, 2006 - 3:04 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The fans at Mellon Arena did not get to see sensational sophomores Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, but they were treated to an entertaining game nonetheless.

Jakub Klepis forged a tie late in the third period and Matt Bradley tallied 2:59 into overtime, lifting the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 preseason win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With both Ovechkin of Washington and Crosby of Pittsburgh - who finished 1-2 in voting for the 2006 Calder Trophy - kept out of their respective lineups, it appeared the crowd of 11,018 had nothing to be excited about on Friday. However, the teams combined for five power-play goals and a shorthander in a contest that provided plenty of excitement.

Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar, a former Capital, scored the first of his two man-advantage tallies midway through the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Matt Pettinger gave Washington the lead 95 seconds into the middle session, but Connor James and Dominic Moore tallied 63 seconds apart later in the period to put Pittsburgh in front, 3-2.

Tomas Fleischmann drew the Capitals even with 12 seconds to go before Gonchar completed his two-goal performance at 8:03 of the third.

Klepis added two assists and Quintin Laing scored one goal and set up another for Washington, which also rested Dainius Zubrus, Richard Zednik and former Vezina Trophy winner Olaf Kolzig.

Defenseman Ryan Whitney recorded a pair of assists for the Penguins, who were without Mark Recchi and 2004 first-round pick Evgeni Malkin due to injuries.