Ovechkin 3 - Crosby 3.

David Steckel 1 -Rest of Penguins 0

What a remarkable display by the two "faces" of the NHL. Crosby banging three home from the doorstep. Ovechkin unleashing three lasers from the outside. Just remarkable.

The building, once again, was electric. The cheers for Ovechkin's second goal were loud; for the third goal: explosive. And hats came raining down from everywhere.


The Caps were a little fortunate though to still be in this one by the time Steckel knocked a bouncing puck between Marc-Andre Fleury's legs at 15:49 of the second period.


Washington wasn't out shot like in Game One, but the Penguins played for shifts at a time in the Capitals end in the first and second periods, with Pittsburgh really taking play to the Caps.

It's a testament to their young goalie, and perseverance, that the game remained tied after two.

Alexander Semin let his emotion get the better of him, taking a double-minor that let to Crosby's first period goal.

There were 14 minor penalties in the game, including Milan Jurcina's cross-check with 1:41 remaining in the game.

Varlamov made 33 saves on 36 shots. The last goal went off the side of his helmet. But once again, he made some tremendous saves.


It's tough to say that he's making saves that other goalies that suited up for the Caps this season couldn't have made, but you just get a sense with this kid that he knows what he's doing, even when he's flopping around a little bit.

In the post-game press conference, Crosby had this to say when asked what he was talking to the referee about after Ovechkin's third goal:
"People kept throwing hats. I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop. I mean, the first wave came and then I think they were all pretty much picked up, and then more started coming. So for us, we just wanted to make sure we kept kind of moving and kept the game going, wanted to try to get back in it. So wasn't complaining about anything."
No, he wasn't complaining about anything. Unbelievable. It's gotta be tough in a town known for Men of Steel to be led by a guy that cries about hats on the ice after a hat trick.

Photos 2009 © Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

2 comments

  1. Todd // May 5, 2009 at 9:50 AM  

    As a Caps fan, I may not be an impartial voice on the matter, but wouldn't a break in the action (say for cleaning up 100s of hats) benefit the team that is trailing by 2 goals late in the third period?

    Crosby is lame.

    If you have a minute, hit us up at The Bossanova

  2. Dave Nichols // May 5, 2009 at 10:14 AM  

    completely agree. Crysby just can't help himself.

    good stuff over at GIGB. thanks for the note.