So, where shall we begin?

Ultimately, the only thing about this game that matters was the final score, with the Washington Capitals defeating the New York Rangers 4-3 more than halfway through the second overtime period to take a three games to one lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-final matchup.

But man, how they got there?  That will be the stuff of legends and lifetime memories.

In the second extra stanza, with legs getting heavy and shifts shortening, Jason Chimera collected a drop pass from Player of the Game Marcus Johansson at the blue line and flicked a shot toward veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist that was blocked by defenseman Bryan McCabe but still made it to the top of the crease.

But as Lundqvist (49 saves) went to cover, Rangers forward Marian Gaborik tried to deflect the puck behind the net instead and wound up hitting Chimera right in the chest with it. Once the puck fell to the ice, the speedy winger jammed it home behind a prone Lundqvist to end the Capitals fifth longest game in their 37-year history.

That goal ended a remarkable comeback that was necessary because of a period of incredible futility and ineptitude, followed by an equally amazing period of hard work, perseverance and dedication.

After playing to a scoreless tie in the first period, which amounted to little more than a "feeling out" period for both teams, the Caps played their worst period of hockey since the days of the December losing streak in the second period, allowing three straight Rangers goals -- the last two coming seven seconds apart -- and looked for the world to be beaten, broken and defeated.

Washington was completely overwhelmed by the Rangers physicality in the frame, and by the time the period was over, the Caps looked like they were standing around waiting to be hit again.

But whomever gave the speech in the locker room during the second intermission certainly said all the right things.

With just 2:47 gone in the third period, Alexander Semin used great anticipation to intercept a poor clearing pass from Ryan McDonagh, fired on a surprised Henrik Lundqvist, and jammed home a loose puck the normally sure-handed goalie should have covered, triggering an epic third period comeback that included a pair of Marcus Johansson goals and forcing a stunned and tiring Rangers team to overtime.

It should be noted that three of the four Capitals goals came with the goal scorer having at least one foot in the paint, and the other was a deflection off the goal scorer's body camped in the crease.  Greasy goals.  Playoff goals.

Both teams had golden opportunities in the first extra frame, most notably Alex Ovechkin breaking in on Lundqvist alone, only to be stoned, and Marian Gaborik's wrister from the high slot that was calmly gloved by Michal Neuvirth (36 saves).

No, one overtime was not enough.  A comeback that stunning needed the drama of the second overtime period.

It shouldn't have come to that.  The Rangers had the Capitals right where they wanted them after the second period, on the scoreboard, on the ice and in the stands.  The raucous Madison Square Garden crowd was having a field day with Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, who earlier in the week had some pointed comments about the quality of the accommodation at the fabled arena, and some not-so-veiled jabs at the legions of Rangers fans, saying "It's not so loud in there."

Well, the chants of "Boo-dreau" and "Can You Hear Us?" were plenty loud enough, prompting Boudreau after the game to say that maybe he should have kept quiet about matters not directly related to the game.  But three third period goals silenced the MSG faithful, and after the dagger in the second overtime, you could hear the plaster dropping from the leaky ceiling in the dilapidated building that will be undergoing a $900 million face lift the next couple of years.

Momentum is a funny thing.  Had the Rangers held on to win and even this series, the Caps would have had to limp home and think about the nauseating way they allowed an inferior team to take control of things after achieving a two-games-to-none lead and then frittering it away.  Instead, after the ridiculous comeback-to-win-in-two-overtimes thriller, it's the Rangers that will brood for two days, mulling what could have, should have been.

The Capitals now have an opportunity to exorcise so many demons at once on Saturday, in front of their home crowd, on a night where the Verizon Center should tremble with excitement. 

Boudreau's message to his troops for Game Five should be simple: Take nothing for granted, earn everything, go to the net, work hard.  Just like in the third period of Game Four.

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CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS

3. Marco Sturm.  Plus-1, six hits.  Thought he played his best game as a Capital.

2. Jason Chimera.  Game-winning goal.  His speed was a force in overtime when Marc Staal and Dan Girardi were noticeably gassed.

1. Marcus Johansson.  Two goals. Should have had an assist on Chimera's game-winner.  Plus-3.  Only drawback was in face off dot (6of-17).  But he was the best player on the ice last night.

CAPS NOTES:  Alex Ovechkin was minus-2 for the night, and was not particularly effective for long stretches of this game.  He had four shots on goal, but missed on four and had six blocked.

John Carlson was also minus-2, and was a spectator on the second and third Rangers goals.  But he fired the shot from the point that deflected on Johansson to tie the game and as poorly as he played in the second, that's how good he was in the third and overtime.

Alexander Semin led the Caps with seven shots on goal and really was a presence every time he had the puck.  Matt Bradley was credited for seven hits in just 10:59 to pace the Caps in that department.

The two teams combined for 120 hits and 92 shots on goal.

Um, allow me to catch my breath.

When noted antagonist Daniel Briere completed the comeback for the Philadelphia Flyers, taking a 4-3 lead with just 5:45 left in the game after his team trailed 3-0 just into the second period, the collective soul of the Washington Capitals -- and their fan base -- had every right to be crushed, dejected and exhausted.

But a little over two minutes later, a young Swede that's growing up right before our eyes took matters into his own hands, rifling a shot past backup goalie Brian Boucher from the high slot to force overtime.  After a scoreless five minutes, Washington scored on all three of their penalty shots and escaped one of the toughest places to play in the league with two points -- which they were definitely fortunate to earn.

The win puts the Caps just a single point behind the Flyers for first place in the Eastern Conference, six ahead of Boston for second, and seven up on Tampa Bay -- losers at home to the Islanders -- for first in the Southeast Division.

This is a tale of three games rolled into one.  The first game consisted of the Caps beating Flyers starting goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, like a drum.  The Russian rookie was shaky from the get-go, allowing three goals on nine shots, before being replaced by backup Brian Boucher after the third goal at 1:22 of the second period.

Not to take anything away from the effort of the Caps on the scoring plays, but two of the three goals against Bobrovsky were definitely preventable.  Nick Backstrom's snap shot trickled between Bobrovsky's blocker arm and his body for the Caps first tally, and he gave up the near post on Mike Knuble's close range stuff on the second.

Dennis Wideman sent "Bob" to the showers with his shot from the point at the start of the second period.

At that point, the second game commenced, as the Caps were content to sit back and let the Flyers dictate play, as if they were daring them to erase a three goal lead.  Enough said.

Michal Neuvirth had more problems with his own defense backing into him and screening him than he really did with the Flyers offense.  Philly outshot the Caps 11-7 in the second and 11-5 in the third, and completely dominated play to the point that it looked like the home team had a two period power play. 

The goals were inevitable, as Neuvirth had to contend with the screens and physical play from the Flyers up front.  There was a noticable lack of contact from the Caps defense for most of this contest, with the Flyers roughing things up -- and chirping -- with impugnity once they got on the board.

Neuvirth could do little on either of Philly's first two goals, the first bouncing in off defenseman Dennis Wideman's skate; the second came on a botched clear, with Andreas Nodl drawing the defense -- and Neuvirth -- before hitting an unchecked Claude Giroux on the doorstep.

Three Caps defenders were marking center Jeff Carter, leaving Giroux and his lethal shot all alone to fire into the open net.

The emboldened Flyers just picked up the pace even more in the third.  Midway through the frame, on a hard forecheck, Jeff Schultz coughed the puck up into his own slot, where Nodl gathered and buried it past a dazed Neuvrith, and the game was tied.

Later, after Flyers won another yet faceoff (Caps 44 percent for the night) Briere tipped a shot from the point by Kimmo Timmonen that was destined for the back board behind a screened Neuvirth, and things looked bleak for the Caps.

Washington picked up its play a bit after the goal, and at 16:41, Mike Knuble (goal, two assists) dug the puck out of the offensive left wing corner, carried aliong the boards, and found Johansson, who had slipped into the high slot undetected. 

Johansson called for the shot like a veteran and pounded it past Boucher to send it to overtime.

Neither team took any risk in the extra frame, and when it was unsettled after five minutes of four-on-four, the gimmick was invoked to award the extra point.  

Matt Hendricks used his nifty stutter step to get Boucher on the ice and slipped it past him backhanded, Nick Backstrom got a quick snap shot through, and Alexander Semin finished Boucher and Flyers off stick side for the game winner.  Neuvirth tripped up Carter with his stick, keeping the prolific scorer off the board, and the win went to the visitors.

As John Carlson tweeted after the game, a win is a win is a win.  Especially in Philadelphia.  The Caps didn't do themselves any favors retreating into a shell after taking a 3-0 lead.  Despite earning the extra point tonight, the Flyers have to be emboldened by the fact they shredded the Caps now vaunted defense after falling into such a hole.

But the Caps, too, take something away from this one.  First, they took a big lead over one of the East's best in their own building.  They showed resiliency to not quit after allowing the fourth goal.  And they found some toughness late that was missing early, with Scott Hannan putting  himself in harm's way to block a shot with two minutes left, and Carlson FINALLY dumping a Flyers forward in the corner after getting ridden roughshod most of the game.

And the Caps did all this, missing the services of Alex Ovechkin, Jason Arnott, Mike Green, Tom Poti, and Eric Fehr, who mysteriously missed all but one shift in the third period.

All four games in this series this season went to overtime.  Heaven help us all if these teams meet again in the playoffs.

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS

3. Nicklas Backstrom.  The senior Swede had goal, assist, shootout marker.

2. Marcus Johansson.  Goal and assist, plus-2.  When Arnott gets back, he gives the Caps a dangerous playmaker on the third line. Can't be undersetimated in playoffs to be able to roll three lines with confidence.

1. Mike Knuble.  Pops had a goal and two assists in his old haunt, and really showed his veteran leadership -- on the ice.

"It's not like a secret." Bruce Boudreau, on getting goals around the net.

THE RESULT: In an all too familiar refrain, the Washington Capitals found themselves trailing after two periods of play, on the road against the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Flyers.

In 40 seconds worth of hard work in the third, the Caps tied the game up and looked to be carrying all the momentum into overtime.

But another blown defensive assignment led to an uncontested shot, and the Flyers took the two points they probably felt was theirs all along.  Salvaging one point on the road against the top team in the East was little solice to the Capitals last night after clawing their way back in it, only to have their guts ripped out again.

It's Washington's sixth straight loss in overtime games.

The Caps played in the third period like they are capable, flying around the ice, getting quality shots on net, and finishing when the opportunity presented itself.  Both goals, by Mike Knuble and Alex Ovechkin, were from within five feet of the goal.

Unfortunately, that effort was missing from the first 45 minutes or so of this game.

The Caps once again came out flat, surrendering a goal just 1:31 in, as Jeff Carter got behind the defense, wrapped around the goal and snuck one in past Michal Neuvirth. Neuvy looked out of sorts through much of the first period, and left the game at intermission.  Coach Bruce Boudreau called him "day-today" with a lower body injury.

Philly scored again in the second, as Claude Giroux was allowed to waltz though the crease uncontested, take a pass from the corner, shoot, collect his rebound, and shoot again after Semyon Varlamov was already down.

But the Caps rallied in the third, with Knuble tipping in a shot from Marcus Johansson that hit the right post and died, and Ovechkin got just enough of a puck he played with his hand to slip it by Sergei Bobrovsky.  Ovi's goal, his 16th of the season, stood after video replay.

But in OT, Johansson got caught too low in his own zone during four-on-four hockey, and Andrej Meszaros blasted a shot that eluded Varlamov for the game winner just 1:07 into extra time.

The team's captain was as introspective as he's been all season long in the locker room following the bitter loss.  "All the guys in this room understand. If we work hard and we use our skill nobody can stop us."

"Right now you can see in our first two periods, the second period we probably only put four shots on net, six shots on net.  It's not our game.  We have to go to the net, find our rebound, crash the nets, make some hits -- you know, be angry."

Ovechkin was then asked why the team couldn't do that in the first two periods. He drew a deep breath, and said,  "That's the question.  Next game is gonna be a big game for us, I think. We have to be ready right away and I hope we're gonna be ready.  I know we're gonna be ready."

You can see it for yourself below, courtesy of Caps.com's Caps 365.

This team needs to figure out why they can't get out of the gate.  Last season, the Caps led the league in first period goals.  This season: dead last so far.

The Caps lead the league in come-from-behind wins this season, but getting behind every night is more than a nuisance.  It is taking a lot out of them, and forcing their best players into more minutes.  It's certainly not the way a coach wants to script things.

The Caps have a day off, then face the Islanders on Thursday and Toronto on Saturday.  As of right now, they stand 14th and 12th in the conference.  The Islanders are minus-40 in goal differential, Toronto minus-18. 

These are both games the Caps HAVE TO HAVE.  Period.  Anything less is unacceptable.

THE GOOD: Two goals from five feet out.  One of them was by Ovechkin.  Hope everyone learned a lesson.

THE BAD: Despite the one brilliant move that set up Knuble's goal, Marcus Johansson did not have a very good night.  He was on the ice for all three Philly goals, and was caught too deep in OT to guard his man, who scored the game-winner. Also, the rookie was just 3-for-9 on faceoffs.

I think most people fail to remember the Caps, through conscious decision and now injury, are playing every night with six rookies in the lineup.

THE UGLY: D.J. King took just seven shifts and played just 4:24, getting his fight with Jody Shelly out of the way early.  He spent more time in the box than on the ice.  He's only doing the job his coach put him out there for, but if that's all his coach wants him for, it seems like he really is not the right fit for this team.

Again, I have all the respect in the world for King.  He busts his ass every day at practice, and hasn't said word one about not getting a sweater.  None of this is his fault.  But he just doesn't figure into Boudreau's game plan, and is eating a roster space -- and cap room.

Also, something else to watch: David Steckel took just 11 shifts and played just 7:00 minutes. He also lost five of his seven draws and took a hooking penalty, the only minor given out to either team on the evening.

THE STATS: Mike Knuble (11) from Marcus Johansson (5) at 7:58 of 3rd.  Alex Ovechkin (16) from Nicklas Backstrom (31) and Jason Chimera (9) at 8:38 of 3rd.  Michal Neuvirth (7-for-8 saves).  Semyon Varlamov (L, 20-of-22 saves).

NEXT GAME: Thursday at New York Islanders at 7:00 pm.

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS

3. Matt Hendricks.  Three shots, five hits and a blocked shot.  Sandpaper.

2. Semyon Varlamov.  Made several excellent saves, none more important than on his own player, as a shot ricocheted off Mike Green, sending Varly sprawling to keep the game tied late in the third.

1. Alex Ovechkin. Played perhaps his best period of hockey in two months in the third period. Find that energy in the first Thursday night and the Islanders will crumble.

“We wanted to score on the power play, more for me on the confidence of the power play and it won us the game so it worked out. I thought we were pretty patient and showed a lot of good restraint today. We didn’t retaliate and that was good.” -- Coach Bruce Boudreau

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals ended the Philadelphia Flyers sixth game winning streak in front of the 68th consecutive sellout crowd at Verizon Center on Sunday night.  The game went to overtime and Mike Green scored the winning power play goal to give the Caps their tenth win of the season with the 3-2 victory over the Flyers.

A couple of changes in the standings. The Washington Capitals are now on top in the Eastern Conference for the first time this season and Alex Semin is now the team leader in goals with nine.

Braden Holtby got the nod tonight for his first NHL start.  Getting a start is big, however, starting against a rival on a hot streak is even bigger.  Holtby seemed to handle the pressure well. “It’s definitely huge, but on a team like this, if a goalie just kind of gives the team a chance to win, they usually are going to pull through some goals. It definitely gave me a lot of confidence coming in.”

Holtby gave up his first NHL goal to Nikolay Zherdev in the first period. “I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, that they were going to score on me. I came into the game hoping for a victory and I knew I wasn’t going to get a shutout in my first game. [I] Came in and just tried to get the victory and work my way up.”

Coming into this game, the Flyers and Caps had basically the same record at 9-4-1 and 9-4-0 respectively.  The Caps may have had a small advantage in that they were off on Saturday night while the Flyers played and the fatigue showed on the ice. Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said, “Not our best hockey, but there was a lot of stuff we did well and a lot of stuff we can work on. To get three points out of four is pretty good.”

Eric Fehr scored his third goal of the season and the first of the night for the Caps that went to the upper right-hand corner of the net. John Erskine and Tyler Sloan were credited as the helpers. "We expect that third line to be able to chip in" said Coach Boudreau. "When Eric is shooting and scoring, it certainly makes a big difference."

The Flyers had three times as many penalty minutes than the Caps, however, it wasn't until the middle of the third period that the Caps took advantage of the power play.  Nicklas Backstrom picked up an Alex Ovechkin rebound and passed to Alex Semin who easily got the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky. The goal was Semin's ninth of the season and the fourth game in a row in which he scored.

Neither team scored in the third period.  The Flyers O'Donnell took a boarding penalty at the end of the third while tied up at two so it was 5-on-3 for 18.1 of third period since Pronger was still serving his time for double-minor high sticking penalty.  This meant more power play time in overtime for the Capitals.

It only took twenty-nine seconds for Mike Green to score the winning power play goal assisted by Backstrom and Mike Knuble. "Everything felt stable out there," Green said. "It felt composed and there was no panic. In the past we've got into situations where we panicked and there was confusion and I think tonight we were pretty stable."

The Capitals have four games in the next week. Neuvrith and Holtby may each get a few starts with the grueling schedule ahead, especially now that Boudreau is comfortable with Holtby in front of the net. “In the first two periods I thought he looked a little nervous, but once they started getting some shots in the third period I thought he made a great game-saving save there in that flurry, moving from side to side. So, I think he handled himself overall really well for his first complete game.”

“We’re in the mix. Not saying we’re better or worse, but we’re in the mix that we can compete against the better teams" said Boudreau. "Next week is no different… this whole league is good.”

We saved the bad news for last (well, hopefully it is not serious).  Coach Bruce Boudreau announced in post-game presser that Brooks Laich is out with "upper body injury." Brooks wanted to play, but doctors kept him out as a precaution.

INTERESTING NOTES AND STATS FROM CAPS: 

• The Capitals won their fourth straight game and improved to 5-0 in overtime games this season. The win lifts Washington into a tie with Philadelphia atop the Eastern Conference and snapped the Flyers’ six-game winning streak.
• Mike Green, tonight’s first star, scored his fourth goal of the season 29 seconds into the overtime session and is currently riding a four-game goal scoring streak and a five-game point streak (four goals, four assists). The Capitals are 4-0-0 when Green registers a goal.
• The overtime goal was the fifth of Green’s career, tied for second in Capitals history with Peter Bondra and Kelly Miller. Only Alex Ovechkin (8) has more career overtime goals for the Capitals.
• Braden Holtby, in his first NHL start, became the third straight Caps’ goaltender to start his career 2-0-0. He turned away 25 shots, including all eight he faced in the third.
• Tonight's goaltenders are the two youngest to start games in the NHL this season (Holtby, 21, and Sergei Bobrovsky, 22).
• Eric Fehr opened the scoring for the Caps and recorded his third goal of the season with 2:31 left in the first period. Fehr has scored all of his six points (three goals, three assists) this season at Verizon Center. The Capitals improved to 3-0-0 when Fehr scores a goal and 5-0-0 when he registers a point.
• Alexander Semin scored his team-high ninth goal of the year – a power-play goal - at 8:54 into the second period. Semin extended his goal and point streak to four games (four goals, three assists), his best since notching his career-best six-game goal streak from Feb. 26 to Mar. 8, 2009. The Capitals are 7-0-0 when Semin scores a goal and 6-0-0 when the team records a power play goal.
• Alex Ovechkin extended his point streak to six games (four goals, six assists) when he assisted on Semin’s tally in the second period. Ovechkin has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) through 14 games to lead the team and is now tied for sixth in Caps history with 547 career points in 410 GP (matching Mike Ridley).
• With Semin’s nine goals and Ovechkin’s eight, the Capitals are the only team in the league with two eight-plus goal scorers. The duo has combined for eight goals and 16 points in the past four games.
• David Steckel was 80% at the faceoff dot tonight, winning eight of the 10 faceoffs he took.
• Semin recorded a game-high seven shots on goal tonight.
• Green skated a game-high 30:26 in ice time tonight, the fourth time this year he has surpassed 30 minutes of ice time.
• Washington posted a 3-0-0 record during this homestand, and is now 7-1-0 at Verizon Center – the best home record in the NHL (through the end of tonight’s game).
• The Capitals have won five straight overtime games for the second time under head coach Bruce Boudreau (also won six in a row from Jan. 5 to Feb. 10, 2008).

NEXT GAME: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at NY Rangers

THE RESULT:  Well, that was fun, eh?

For the first 40 minutes of Saturday night's game, the Washington Capitals flat-out stunk.  They took a ton of penalties, couldn't get out of their own end, were careless with the puck and generally outplayed by a hungrier team.

Fortunately for the Caps, Michal Neuvirth was again at the very top of his game and the penalty kill unit continued its dominance, keeping the Caps within striking distance, as they trailed 2-0 entering the third period. 

Believe me, it could have been much worse.

Washington (4-1-0-8) rallied though with a fierce comeback in the third period, and Brooks Laich redirected an Alex Ovechkin blast in overtime to steal two points from the Nashville Predators in a 3-2 win, before 16,144 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Nashville (3-0-1-7) outshot Washington 30-20 after the first two periods, and the level of play wasn't even that close.

The Caps allowed a breakaway in the opening seconds of the game, then took a penalty at 24 seconds.  It was that kind of a night for the better part of two periods.  J.P. Dumont was allowed to walk in after a bad turnover and beat Neuvirth over his right shoulder for the first Predators goal near the end of the first.

And when a centering pass from Jordin Tootoo deflected off defenseman Brian Fahey's skate (activated because on Mike Green's lingering shoulder injury) and slipped behind Neuvirth mid-way through the second period, it looked for the world like this wouldn't be the Capitals night.

It would have been a waste of a simply masterful performance by their unflappable young netminder, Michal Neuvirth.  Neuvy was in position all night, and made several flashy glove saves to boot.  For the night, he stopped 37 of 39 shots, and calmly led this team while it found its way.

He is solidly cementing himself in the No. 1 goalie slot for the time being.

In the third period, the Capitals finally got it in gear, led by their offensive enigma, Alexander Semin.  He caught fire, controlling play in the Nashville end, as the Predator defenders all of the sudden looked tired.  Semin scored a power play goal at 4:33 -- his 150th of his career -- giving the Caps some much-needed energy.

"You could feel the tide turning," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You look up and you see that you're only down a goal or two goals, you've still got a chance. Every time we play these guys is like this. They're so fast. The fastest team, easily that we've seen."

The Semin goal gave the Caps the momentum, and Tomas Fleischmann banged home a bouncing puck to tie the game from the low slot after Brooks Laich did some nice dirty work behind the Nashville goal to pop the puck out into the slot.

In overtime, Ryan Suter took a tripping penalty trying to slow Alex Ovechkin down in the offensive zone, giving the Caps a 4-on-3 power play.  Smelling blood in the water, Boudreau sent out four forwards for the PP:  Ovechkin, Semin, Laich and Nicklas Backstrom. 

Backstrom took control of a loose puck along the dasher and hit Ovechkin in full stride at the blue line. Ovechkin's blast stayed low to the ice, where a crashing Brooks Laich got just enough of it to redirect it past rookie goalie Anders Lindback (31 saves) for the game winner.

So, much like Wednesday's win against the Islanders, this was another game where the Caps played poorly and unfocused for much of the affair but found enough in reserve to carry the day.  There's a lot of talk right about "not how, but how many," and that they don't give out style points for wins, but the Caps are darn lucky they won tonight.

You wonder if it's going to take losing one of these games to get the Captials to buy into playing for a full 60 minutes. 

THE GOOD:  The Caps killed off another six penalties, making them a perfect 21-for-21 on the PK this season.  They even went down 5-on-3 at one point and kept their record clean.  This kind of thing is infectious.

Also, we're five games in now, and Jeff Schultz has yet to be on the ice when an opposing goal was scored.

THE BAD:  Brian Fahey looked out of place, let his skate get into the wrong place defending in the slot, and was -2.  Get well soon, GreenLife52.

THE UGLY:  Fleischmann was 1-for-12 in the dot.  Hard to control the puck if you don't have it.

THE STATS:  Semin (2) from Carlson (5) and Backstrom (2) at 4:33 of 2nd.  Fleischmann (2) from Laich (2) at 12:14 of 2nd.  Laich (3) from Ovechkin and Backstrom (3) at 1:44 of OT (PP).

NEXT GAME:  Tuesday against Boston at 7:30 pm at Verizon Center.

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

3.  Alexander Semin.  Semin's strong play was the spark that got the Caps going in the third, and was rewarded with Caps first goal on the power play.

2.  Brooks Laich. Got the deflection on Ovechkin's bomb from the blue line for the game winner and did the hard work on Flash's garbage goal.

1.  Michal Neuvirth.  Kid was a stud, simple as that.  Could have been 5-0 at one point were it not for him.