Despite another outstanding performance by goalie Semyon Varlamov, the Washington Capitals were fairly dominated by the home-standing Pittsburgh Penguins in their 3-2 overtime loss on Wednesday night.

Varlamov, the just turned 21-year old rookie netminder, saved 39 of 42 shots, many in spectacular fashion. But he could not stop the final shot, a slap shot from the point by Kris Letang, that was tipped and redirected past him by his own defenseman, Shaone Morrisonn.

The game-winner came at 11:23 of overtime, at the end of another flurry of shots and extended offensive zone play for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh played most of the game in the Capitals' end, and it really showed on the scoresheet. The Penguins out shot the Caps 42-23 and were awarded seven power play opportunities to the Capitals' two.

Washington was not happy about the imbalance of penalties handed out.

Alex Ovechkin, who had a goal and an assist, said, "I don't want to talk about the referees, too. They only had two penalties, it's kind of a joke."

Coach Bruce Boudreau did talk about the referees. "As far as penalties go, I hope I never hear them [The Penguins] complain about penalties again, picks, and everything else.I think we might have deserved the penalties, but they sure as hell deserved a few more than they got."

He again praised his goaltender though, "When you get a goaltending effort like that, you have to win because they don't come around every day."

The Caps owned play early, controlling the first ten minutes of the game. Ovechkin started the scoring at 1:23 of the first, as Pens' goalie Marc-Andre Fleury misplayed a puck behind his net, which sent the rubber in front of the goal to a charging Ovechkin, in the right place at the right time. Ovie buried it into the open net for his eighth goal of the playoffs.

Ruslan Fedotenko tied it midway through the second. Tom Poti got caught up ice, sending Fedotenko in on a two-on-one with Maxime Talbot against Morrisonn. Fedotenko tried to saucer a pass through Morrisonn, but the defenseman blocked the pass.

Unfortunately, he put it right back on the Russian winger's stick, and he lifted it past Varlamov, who had been sliding over to block Talbot.

Evgeni Malkin, who played a dominant Game Three after disappearing for the first two contests, scored Pittsburgh's go-ahead goal. With Alexander Semin off for hooking, he carried the puck into the offensive zone, deked Brooks Laich, carried to the high slot and shot high against a screened Varlamov for his fifth goal of the post-season, his first in this series.

"He [Malkin] was at another level," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "He was dominant with the puck and he had the goal, which was fantastic."

Nicklas Backstrom netted the tying goal with 1:50 remaining. On just the Caps' second power play of the night, thanks to a Pascual Dupuis interference call, Backstrom had the puck along the goal line, and he banked the puck off Fleury's backside to send the game into overtime.

Pittsburgh was just 1-for-7 on the power play despite the obvious advantage. But where the advantage really showed was in the legs of the Capitals defenders. Washington was noticeably slow to the puck and lost most man-on-man battles, a sign of weariness.

D.C. Sports Bog has a graphic description of the energy level from both teams.

The Caps were outhit in Game Three 44-31. The official scoresheet says that the Capitals committed only three giveaways, but the Pittsburgh scorers are notorious for poor attribution for the visiting teams in this regard.

Both teams complained vociferously about the condition of the ice surface at Mellon Arena after the game, and it was obvious watching the game that the puck was bouncing all over the place.

"The ice was really bad," Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik said, "and something we talked about going into the overtime was just put pucks on net, you never know."

"In overtime ice was just a mess, pucks just bouncing and stuff," Ovechkin said, describing one particular play in overtime where he was trying to get a shot off. "We have 3-on-2, [Hal] Gill goes down and I have probably 100 percent chance to score goals but puck just stopped moving."

Where to start?

In the final indignation, Shaone Morrisonn tipped a shot from the point by Kris Letang past a shocked Semyon Varlamov for a 3-2 Penguins OT win.

Varlamov stopped 39 of 42 shots, including several outstanding highlight reel saves.

The Capitals played poorly all the way around, save for the goaltender. They were beaten to every loose puck. They lost almost all man-on-man battles. They were out hit. They were outskated and outhustled. And as much as they were dominated, they still took Pittsburgh to overtime.

Pittsburgh had seven power plays to Washington's two. Personally, I have no problem with any of it. The Caps did nothing to draw any penalties.

Sloan played well again in place of Erskine, but had one shift where he looked lost.

I've stayed off the Nylander/Fleischmann soapbox, but neither played well. Flash is out of place playing with Semin and Backstrom.

In a seven-game series, you're gonna have a clunker. Let's hope this is a sole clunker. But despite the win in Game Two, they Caps were outplayed for most of that game as well.

To Pittsburgh's credit, they played a buzzing, desperate style of hockey that the Caps just had no answer for tonight.

They say that a playoff series doesn't really start until a home team loses. The Washington Capitals travel to Pittsburgh for tonight's Game Three ready to test that old adage against the Penguins in Mellon Arena.

RETURN OF THE DRAMA

It seems that the drama, which was all that might have been missing from the first two games of this series, has returned.

After Game Two, when asked why he conferred with a referee during the clean-up of hats after Alex Ovechkin's third goal, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby replied,

"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."

Not complaining, indeed.

Not to be outdone in the sour grapes department, Penguins winger Matt Cooke had this to say about the contact during Ovechkin's power play goal:

"We've talked to the referees, and I know we showed them tape," Cooke said. "It's a blatant play. I'm nowhere near the puck. He [Semin] is not allowed to touch me. It's a penalty. ... Call the game accordingly. The rules are the rules. It's not a guessing game."

Then, from this morning's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said he wouldn't "be surprised," if Ovechkin used an illegally curved blade on his stick.

"I haven't taken a look at it," Fleury said. "The puck sometimes sticks to it pretty good, even if it's bouncing."

Coach Bruce Boudreau's response to the Cooke quote, which probably covers all three instances, was simple.

"It's just jockeying and whining," Boudreau said. "It's enough of it."

AS FOR THE REAL DIRTY PLAY...

Penguins winger Chris Kunitz' cross-check to the head and neck of Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov merited only a fine from the league, on a play that wasn't called a penalty during the game, yet was supposed to be a point of emphasis for the NHL referees this season: deliberate blows to the head.

Varlamov looked like he was temporarily dazed in the replay, but was uninjured from the blow. For his part, Kunitz (sort of) apologized through the media this morning.

"It looks bad on tape," the Penguin said of his hit on Varlamov. "It definitely does. It's not something I'm proud of. You don't want to do that. You don't ever want to injure someone. But it's something where I was going to the net, trying to make space. Unfortunately I hit him. It's something the league is going against right now -- hits to the head. I was fortunate [to not be suspended]."

The Caps were not, and are not, happy about Kunitz' hard play on their goaltender.

"It happened so quick you sometimes don't realize it," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "But if you look at the clip and slow it down, I mean, he's aiming right for the throat."

Ovechkin summed it up best.

"It's a cheap shot and Brash got six games but why not Kunitz? It's all about being fair. It's a serious problem I think. Can you imagine if he gave [Varlamov] an injury, what are we going to do?"

"If it's not going to be called it's going to be a terrible decision and I'm going to be [mad] about it.

INJURIES PILING UP ON BOTH SIDES

Washington played Monday night without defenseman John Erskine, who took a shot off the leg in Game One. He participated in morning skate today, but reportedly was walking with a heavy limp once off the ice. If Erskine cannot go tonight, Tyler Sloan, who received high marks for his work in Game Two, will probably get the call.

Eric Fehr did not practice and was replaced by Michael Nylander on the fourth line. Fehr was hit hard by Ruslan Fedotenko in Game Two and missed most of the rest of the game with an undisclosed injury.

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left late in Game Two holding his left shoulder. Coach Dan Bylsma said that Letang's injury was a "strength issue", and that he looked stronger in the morning skate. But he called his veteran defenseman a game-time decision.

If Letang can't go, Phillippe Boucher would take his place.

Colin Campbell, NHL Director of Hockey Operations, has watched the video of Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz intentionally and viciously striking a two-handed cross-check to the head and neck of Capital goalie Semyon Varlamov in the final scramble around the Caps goal that resulted in Sidney Crosby's last goal on Monday night, and has decided, in his infinite wisdom, that Kunitz should be fined, but not suspended, for the hit.

If you haven't seen the hit yet, here it is. Ask yourself what's worse? A player charging a goalie who is already down on the ice looking for the puck and hitting him with a cross-check in the head and neck, or what Brashear did to Blair Betts?

As a goalie, I know what I think is worse.

Memo to Chris Kunitz: Keep your head up tomorrow night.

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.

The Washington Capitals host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 p.m. in Game Two of their best-of-seven second round Stanley Cup playoffs series. Washington leads the series 1-0 after beating Pittsburgh 3-2 in Game One.

HURTING ON THE BLUE LINE?

The Capitals recalled defensemen Karl Alzner and Tyler Sloan from AHL Hershey, where they were competing in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Caps D-men John Erskine, Tom Poti and Mike Green all took shots to various body parts in Game One. Erskine is the most serious of the three. He took a hard shot to the boot and tried to skate this morning but could only make it for a couple minutes before coming off the practice rink.

Erskine is now listed as "questionable" for tonight's Game Two.

Poti and Green participated in the morning skate.

Alzner and Sloan both spent time with the Capitals earlier this season. Alzner had 30 games with the parent club, recording one goal and five assists with a minus-1 rating and two penalty minutes.

Sloan played 26 games with one goal and four assists with a plus-4 rating and 14 penalty minutes. Sloan is best remembered for cleanly laying out Rene Bourque of Calgary in his first NHL game in October.

From Capitals Insider:

"We've only had six healthy defensemen up here and I think we were playing with fire if someone would go down in warm-up," Boudreau said. "We've got John banged up a little bit. He's going to try it and see if he can go. But we figured we take precautionary measures and call up a couple of guys just in case. If we had to go to one, they both know our systems as well as anyone."

THE NEWEST RUSSIAN SENSATION

Everyone in DC has been patiently the arrival of the Semyon Varlamov era for a while now. But after his save on Sidney Crosby in Game One, the rest of the NHL now knows the name of the 21-year old rookie netminder. Not that they pronounce it correctly.

In the hours since the Caps Game One win, it's all the larger hockey community wants to talk about, even overshadowing media darlings Crosby and Ovechkin.

Publications such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, USA Today, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette all have stories up about "The Save" and the mystery of the now-famous young backstop.

His own coach is staying away from him for fear of "messing him up," but Bruce Boudreau let him know through the press how he felt about his biggest save of the playoffs.

"He owed us one," referring to a goal on a soft wrist shot from the point by Mark Eaton just moments before.

Varlamov was philosophical about his Game One experience.

"The first goal could have rattled a 21-year-old goalie, and the second goal could have killed a 21-year-old goalie. But this is the playoffs. You can't really dwell on your mistakes. You have to forget them quickly."

But everyone will remember his effort on the save.

"There was no other option left," Varlamov said. "I had to play it with my stick. There was nothing else I could do. If he put the puck anywhere else, it would be in the net. So, I guess it was lucky."

GETTING ON TOP

The Penguins really took play to the Caps in Game One early in the game, registering the game's first six shots on goal. In Game Seven against the Rangers, the Caps didn't get a shot on goal until 13:04 of the first period.

In both cases, the other team had scored before the Caps got their first shot.

So, what gives?

Ultimately, the Caps are doing a lot of damage in the first period during the playoffs. Washington has scored 10 of its 22 goals in the first period, the most in the NHL this playoff season. The Caps are 4-0 when leading after the first and 3-1 when scoring first.

So why has the team looked shaky the first few minutes of the last two games?

Here's one opinion, by Game One hero David Steckel, "It seems like it takes a goal [against] or for the other team to take momentum away from us in the first 10-15 minutes for us to wake up."

"But we can't always start behind the eight ball. We've talked about it until we're blue in the face. It's just about guys being ready and prepared. Whether it's the using the same routine or breaking it up and trying to find something else, we have to do it."

The Caps are notorious slow starters for afternoon games, but coach Boudreau thinks nerves may have played a part in the last couple of games.

"Normally we're one of the best first-period teams in the league. But we're in new territory for a lot of these guys. Especially last game [Game One], we didn't have a clue what we were going to come up against. Maybe now we'll be able to relax a little bit."

Words cannot describe the Varlamov save.

Steckel was the best player on the ice today. Linemates Bradley and Laich not too far behind.

Let sleeping dogs lay.

Crosby 1, Ovechkin 1.

Semin's two 'slap passes' were just a tremedous example of his almost limitless skill.

Anyone see the reason Clark took that second penalty? I've watched it four times now and still don't see a hold.

Good job by Flash to get behind the D after Semin drew Orpik out of position on the third goal.

BIG win on home ice to start the series. Coach said it best: "It's going to be a heck of a series."

The Washington Capitals face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here is Caps News Network's Preview.

SEASON SERIES:

Oct. 16 at PIT: WAS 4 - PIT 3 The Caps found themselves down 3-0 less than two minutes into the second period, but scored four unanswered goals to win in the Igloo. This was the "I hit hard with everybody," game.

Jan. 14 at PIT: WAS 6 - PIT 3 Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist at the Caps fairly dominated the Penguins on their home ice. It was a physical affair, as Crosby left injured and Malkin cross-checked Ovechkin from behind.

Feb. 22 at DC: WAS 5 - PIT 2 The NBC game where Ovechkin and Crosby had words in front of the Caps bench, Ovie pulled Crosby's helmet over his face and waved him 'bye-bye'. Fleury gave up five goals in 33 minutes.

Mar. 8 at DC: PIT 4 - WAS 3 Shootout win for Pittsburgh. Crosby beat Theodore on the Pens final shot and Ovechkin couldn't beat Fleury. There were 10 roughing penalties in the game.
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REGULAR SEASON STATS

WAS: 50-24-8-108, second in East, first in Southeast.

3rd in Goals Scored (272); 20th in Goals Against (245); 2nd in Power Play (25.2%); 17th in Penalty Kill (80.6%)

PIT: 45-28-9-99, fourth in East, second in Northeast.

6th in Goals Scored (264); 18th in Goals Against (239); 20th in Power Play (17.2%); 8th in Penalty Kill (82.7%)
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FIVE KEYS TO SECOND ROUND SERIES

1) FORGET ANCIENT HISTORY

The Capitals are 1-6 all-time against the Penguins in the playoffs, all within an 11-year span from 1990 to 2001. The Caps won a grand total of one of those series, a first-round match-up after the 1993-1994 season.

The only time these foes have met in the second round was 1991, in the first of their playoff match-ups. The Penguins won that series and also sent the Capitals home in the opening round of the playoffs in 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2001.

But only one player, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, was involved in any of those series. Gone are Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Olie Kolzig and Peter Bondra.

Washington took three out of four from Pittsburgh this season, including both games in Pittsburgh.

2) BATTLE OF THE STARS

Everyone knows the names. NBC and NHL executives are droooling to get this match-up on TV.

This series has the top three scorers in the league (Malkin-1, Ovechkin-2, Crosby-3) and six of the top 30 (Backstrom-9, Semin-19, Green-29).

There will be much to-do about the rivalry between Ovechkin and Crosby, and the apparent hatred between Ovie and Malkin.

Then there was Semin's comments about Crosby being boring, and you've got yourself the makings of a multi-night mini-drama.

While there seemed to be a peace brokered between countrymen Ovechkin and Malkin at this year's all-star game, there's no doubt the rivalry with Crosby remains: between the players, in the media, and amongst fans.

3) PROTECT THIS HOUSE

The biggest question facing the Capitals in round one was: What would they get from goalie Jose Theodore? The inconsistent netminder imploded in Game One and was replaced by coach Bruce Boudreau with then 20-year old rookie Simeon Varlamov, who had all but five games of NHL experience to his credit. He celebrated his 21st birthday between Games Six and Seven.

The rookie responded with two shut outs and a goals against average (GAA) of 1.17 and .952 save percentage (SV%) in six games against the Rangers.

No stranger to pressure-filled arenas, Varlamov led his Russian Super League team to the championships as an 19-year old, boasting a 1.62 GAA in 16 playoff games after backing his team in 44 games with a 2.45 in the regular season.

The Pens counter with Marc-Andre Fleury. He had a solid, if unspectacular, season with a 2.67 GAA and .912 SV%.

Against the Flyers in the first round he lifted his game, recording a 2.39 GAA and .922 SV%. He faced 40 or more shots twice and won both games, most notably stopping 45 of 46 Flyers shots in a crucial and close Game Four to steal a victory

4) KNOWING YOUR ROLE

While most of the media attention for the Second Round match up with Pittsburgh will be centered around the teams' mega-stars, the role players in this series figure to be vital to either team's chances of winning.

Washington must find more secondary scoring. Tomas Fleischmann, Eric Fehr and Brooks Laich had two goals combined in seven games in the first round.

While Matt Bradley and Tom Poti chipped in with two goals apiece against the Rangers, neither can be counted on to light the lamp on a consistent basis, and the Caps third line must crash the net and create chances.

The return of captain Chris Clark in Game Seven, due to the suspension of Donald Brashear, seemed to bolster the spirit of the squad. Clark provided a spark on the ice as well, registering a couple of hits in limited ice time. He did not score, but did drive to the net on several occasions, a task few Capitals – other than Laich – seem to relish.

The Penguins third line of Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke will look to pressure the Capitals 'D' with a strong forecheck, as they did in their first round series against Philadelphia. The trio play a gritty, hard-charging style that is a stark contrast to the dynamic skills and skating ability of the Pens' primary lines. Kennedy had a goal and two assists in the first round.

The trade deadline brought veterans Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin to the 'Igloo.' The pair add plenty of grit and experience to a team that played with too much finesse up front in the early part of the season. Oh, and it didn't hurt that Kunitz and Guerin already have their names stenciled into Lord Stanley's Cup.

5) BEHIND THE BENCHES

On Wednesday, not coincidentally the day after Pittsburgh found out they drew Washington in the second round, the Penguins announced that they were removing the 'interim' tag from coach Dan Bylsma.

Bylsma took over from Michel Therrien mid-way through the season and the team took off after that. They won eight of their first nine and barely slowed down, making a push from 13th in the conference all the way to the fourth seed in the playoffs.

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau has already proven in these playoffs he's not afraid to push some buttons to get his team going. Lifting the veteran Theodore and replacing him with Varlamov took intestinal fortitude.

Last season's Jack Adams award winner also seems to enjoy playing the chess game in the press, as he tweaked New York coach John Tortorella early in the series, had Ovechkin sit on the Rangers bench during a practice, and playfully boasts he doesn't even speak with his 21-year old netminder for fear of "screwing him up."