Ovechkin Powers Caps Past Pittsburgh

Less than 48 hours after one of their ugliest performances of the season, the Caps rebounded in a big way, taking control of their Sunday afternoon contest with the Penguins, winning their third straight of the season against their old Patrick Division rivals and restoring their 13-point edge in the Southeast with a 5-2 win at another sold-out Verizon Center crowd.

Alex Ovechkin, who put on a show in his last nationally televised game Wednesday, added his 43rd goal of the season and added an big assist and even got a chance to get into it with Sidney Crosby during an altercation in front of the Washington bench.

After the Penguins opened got the first big chance to get on the board with an early penalty on Boyd Gordon, it was cut short by a Ryan Whitney holding call, and the Caps made Pittsburgh pay.

Alex Ovechkin drilled in a feed from Nicklas Backstrom to put the Caps on the board with 6:53 gone in the game.

After Alex Semin took a tripping call with 9:48 left in the first, Jordan Staal once again cut the Pens' power play short, taking a tripping call, but on the ensuing 4-on-4, the Pens got a gift rebound. Mark Eaton took a drive from the point, but Jose Theodore kicked the rebound to a waiting Maxime Talbot, who evened the game with 7:52 left.

However, once the Semin penalty expired, he made amends for his infraction, sitting by the net and given open space by the Pittsburgh penalty-killers, he deked and beat Marc-Andre Fleury from a sharp angle just :54 later to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

The Caps had two more golden chances to increase their lead when Talbot took a penalty with 5:01 left in the frame, as Sergei Fedorov had Fleury beat but opted to pass rather than shoot, and Alex Ovechkin had a drive off the side of the net with the extra man, but couldn't increase their lead before the period ended.

However, it didn't take long in the second period, as after finishing a Donald Brashear minor, Semin took the puck off Staal's stick near the boards and then fed Fedorov for a one-timer that rocketed past Fleury just :54 into the period for a 3-1 edge.

Pittsburgh got a golden chance to get back into it when John Erskine took a minor, followed by a too-many men call on Washington, giving the Penguins a :55 5-on-3. Although the Caps killed off that portion of the penalty, Sergei Gonchar pulled the Pens within one with a rifle shot just at the corner of the net with 4:46 elapsed in the period before the extra-man penalty expired.

But the Caps regained their two-goal lead with 7:04 to play in the second period, as after Ovechkin pulled the Pens defense over one side with a drive that Fleury stopped, Shaone Morrisonn collected the rebound and put a shot over his shoulder as the Penguins goalie went back down.

Washington then took a 5-2 lead on a fluky goal just :25 later as after Fleury got caught scrambling behind the net, and on the ensuing chance Brooks Laich banked the puck off the goaltender's back from behind the goal line which trickled in before Hal Gill could keep it from crossing. That was the end of the afternoon for Fleury, who stopped only 15 of 20 Washington shots at that point.

At the end of the period, Ovechkin and Crosby got into a bit of an altercation by the Washington bench when the Pens' captain tried to drive Ovechkin into the bench, leading to some choice words and Ovechkin waving sarcastically at Crosby at the tail end of the second.

After Brooks Orpik got into a tussle with Donald Brashear behind the net, Tom Poti came in later in the shift and gave Orpik a shot with the elbow, drawing the penalty. However, no damage was done to the Caps' three-goal lead and they were able to hold them off, but Fedorov took another penalty with 13:02 left in regulation to give Pittsburgh the extra man. Still, the Caps didn't bend, and were able to keep the Pens from drawing closer.

Washington's impressive penalty-killing unit got one more chance to shine, killing off minor to Morrisonn to kill eight of nine Pittsburgh penalties on the afternoon, only allowing Gonchar's goal after the 5-on-3 expired.

The Caps held the Pens off the board and earned their fourth win in five games, and improved to 19-1-1 at home against Eastern opponents this season.

With the win, the Caps also earn their first season series win over the Penguins since 2002-03, when they won three of four against Pittsburgh. The Caps will get a chance to deliver the first sweep in the season series by either squad in two weeks when the Penguins come back to Verizon Center a the end of a road trip on March 8th.

As for the Caps' next opponent, it won't get any easier when the Flyers head to Washington, with the two teams having split their season series so far. The Caps are 2-1-0 on the homestand so far, with Philadelphia in Tuesday and Atlanta in on Thursday before the team's last showdown with the Eastern-leading Bruins on Saturday afternoon in Boston.