PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Capitals goalie Simeon Varlamov stopped shots from every angle imaginable to keep his team in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night, but it was a deflection off his own player in overtime that did the Caps in.

 

Varlamov had already stopped 39 of 41 Penguins shots through 60 minutes of regulation and 11-plus of overtime when Pittsburgh won an offensive zone faceoff back to the blue line and defenseman Kris Letang fired a slap shot on net. The puck deflected off of Caps defender Shaone Morrisonn's leg, came up and clipped Varlamov's left side before finding its way just inside the goal post, sending the white-clad Pittsburgh crowd into a relieved frenzy knowing the Penguins had avoided falling into a near-insurmountable 3-0 hole in the series.

Instead, Pittsburgh now trails 2-1 and has the opportunity to knot the series up on Friday night with another home game.

Letang's first goal of the playoffs was a huge one. The assists went to Mark Eaton for the pass to Letang and Sidney Crosby for winning the faceoff. Crosby's assist was his second of the night and sixth of the postseason, and he's now tied with Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf for the NHL postseason lead with 14 points.

For the Caps, the night started with good fortune. Just 1:23 into the first period, Washington defenseman Mike Green sent a long dump-in from the neutral zone that took a funny bounce off the end boards as Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury went behind the net in an attempt to settle the puck. But the puck didn't make it behind the net, instead bouncing back over Fleury's dropped stick, off the side of the goal and right out front to Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin wasted no time snapping a shot over a diving Fleury and into the net, giving the Caps the early 1-0 lead and stunning the Mellon Arena crowd.

It was Ovechkin's eighth goal of the playoffs, tying him with Crosby for the league lead, and Green's sixth assist.

The lead would last for more than 29 minutes of playing time, as the Penguins couldn't beat Varlamov despite dominating play for the latter half of the first period and much of the second. Pittsburgh forward Ruslan Fedotenko was the first to beat the 21-year-old growing phenom on another lucky bounce 9:29 into the second period.

Fedotenko carried the puck into Washington's defensive zone along with linemate Maxime Talbot on a two-on-one against Caps defenseman Milan Jurcina. Fedotenko brought it in deep and looked to send a crossing pass to Talbot, but Jurcina kneeled down to block the pass from going through. Jurcina was successful in keeping the puck from getting across but it bounced right back to Fedotenko, who quickly slipped a shot past Varlamov and into the net to tie the game at one.

The Penguins failed to score again despite dominating the remainder of the period and outshooting the Capitals, 15-4, in the middle frame.

The Caps managed to even out their game in the third period, but they couldn't stay out of the penalty box. After a penalty against Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar midway through the first period, the next six whistled infractions were against the Caps, and the Penguins needed every last one.

With less than six minutes left in regulation, the sixth Penguins power play of the night came on an Alexander Semin hooking call. Less than a minute into the man-advantage, Evgeni Malkin got a pass from Crosby at the point, skated the puck a few strides toward the goal and fired a shot through teammate Bill Guerin's perfect screen and into the top corner of the net, giving Pittsburgh a late 2-1 lead.

Malkin, who seemed to carry the play for much of Wednesday's game, netted his fifth goal of the playoffs and first of the series.

But the Caps weren't done yet, finally getting their own power play on an obvious Pascal Dupuis pick with 2:28 remaining in the third period. With less than two minutes left, Semin controlled the puck on the left side boards before sending a pass to Ovechkin, who was creating traffic in front of Fleury. Ovechkin's quick, turning shot was stopped by Fleury, but Backstrom got the puck to the left of the net behind the goal line and astutely flicked a shot off of Fleury's rear end and into the goal from the seemingly impossible angle.

The Caps had regained the momentum and silenced the crowd, and with less than a minute left Caps grinder Dave Steckel had a chance to capitalize on a loose rebound in front of Fleury that would have been the final dagger and all but ended the series, but Steckel whiffed on the shot and the game went to overtime.

The extra period started poorly for the Caps, with defenseman Brian Pothier taking a delay of game penalty for flipping the puck over the glass from the defensive zone 2:15 in. But Varlamov and the Caps penalty killers were up to the task and shut down Pittsburgh's power play for the sixth time of the night. The Penguins finished the game 1-for-7 on the power play, whereas the Caps converted on 50 percent of their opportunities. Unfortunately, the Caps only had two power plays all night.

The teams traded opportunities until the fateful offensive zone faceoff with less than nine minutes left in the first overtime period. Varlamov finished the night with 39 saves on 42 shots, including seven stops in overtime. For the Penguins, Fleury stopped 21 of 23 Caps shots, going over .900 in save percentage in a game for the first time this series.

The Caps will look to shake off the tough loss and put the Penguins back in a two-game hole in Game Four on Friday night in Pittsburgh.

NOTES:
Capitals forward Eric Fehr got hurt in Game Two on Monday night and was not able to play in Game Three. He was replaced by center Michael Nylander, who got 7:27 of ice time on Wednesday night, took a penalty and skated to an even plus-minus rating.