PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin couldn't have done a much better
imitation of Sidney Crosby. On this night, even that wasn't good
enough to outduel Alexander Ovechkin.
Ovechkin finished off an exceptional game by teaming with
Alexander Semin to beat Pittsburgh goalie Ty Conklin with
backhanders in the shootout and the Washington Capitals came from
behind for a 6-5 victory Monday night.
Ovechkin and Malkin had two goals and an assist apiece during a
matchup of Russian stars in which each seemed determined to not be
upstaged by the other. One good shift would be followed by a better
shift by the other, with the two stars figuring in five goals --
with each scoring twice -- in a hectic 12-minute span.
"I thought it was a great show of two young superstars trying
to be king of the hill," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said.
However, Malkin, 0-for-5 in shootout attempts this season, never
got the puck in the shootout. Penguins coach Michel Therrien went
with three other skaters, with only Jarkko Ruutu beating goalie
Olaf Kolzig.
Pittsburgh couldn't get the winning goal despite having a rare
two-man advantage for 1 minute, 7 seconds of overtime and being on
the power play for nearly 3 minutes of the 5-minute extra period.
Ryan Malone put the Penguins up 5-4 about 5 minutes into the
third, tipping in Sergei Gonchar's shot from between the circles.
Viktor Kozlov sent it into overtime with about 5½ minutes remaining
with his second goal of the game and eighth of the season, with
Niklas Backstrom getting his fourth assist of the game.
The All-Star game isn't until Sunday, but the NHL can only hope
it gets a couple of its stars playing at the level Ovechkin and
Malkin did. Chosen 1-2 in the 2004 draft, with Ovechkin going
first, the former Russian Olympic teammates put on a show in one of
the league's best regular season games this season.
"It really seems to be a battle between the two," Pittsburgh
coach Michel Therrien said.
Upstairs in a private box, injured Penguins star Sidney Crosby
and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux clearly enjoyed a wide-open game
that resembled those played early in Lemieux's career in the 1980s.
Malkin promised Friday after Crosby was lost indefinitely with a
high ankle sprain to try to replace Crosby's missing offense and,
so far, he has with three goals and an assist in Pittsburgh's first
two games without Crosby.
"Yeah, we lost our best player and you can't really replace
him," Malkin said, speaking through interpreter George Firman.
"It's not (only) me, everybody has to keep up with every game."
Malkin had to be very good in this game merely to stay with
Ovechkin, even though the Capitals star insisted he wasn't trying
to outdo his friend.
"I just play for the team. It doesn't matter if you're Russian
or Canadian," Ovechkin said after the Capitals won their fourth in
a row and sixth in seven games to get above .500 at 22-21-5. "It's
a game, and I think nobody has friends on the ice."
For all the goals, it was Malkin's hard check of Ovechkin near
the end of the first that got the sellout crowd going, chanting his
nickname of "Geno, Geno, Geno." Malkin, normally not a physical
player, sent Ovechkin flying by lowering his shoulder as Malkin
carried the puck behind the Washington net.
"If I didn't hit him, maybe he scored more goals, who knows?"
Ovechkin said despite getting the worse of the collision. "I can't
hear after the game, 'What are you doing, why didn't you hit
him?"
Ovechkin obviously wasn't intimidated, scoring a power-play goal
less than 2 minutes into the second period on a soft shot that
almost fluttered as it landed behind goalie Dany Sabourin, putting
Washington up 3-2.
Malkin, who took 7 of the Penguins' 15 shots, responded less
than 2 minutes later with his 26th goal by snapping off a shot from
the slot, only 16 seconds after Pittsburgh went on another power
play.
The Penguins, outshot 30-15, made it 4-3 less than 3 minutes
later on another power play, as Ryan Whitney faked a shot from the
top of the left circle before sliding the puck to Petr Sykora at
the right side of the net.
Ovechkin, of course, came back less than 2 minutes after that
with his league-best 38th goal, a slap shot from the left circle
that led Therrien to pull Sabourin and bring in Conklin.
Pittsburgh, despite being 10-1-2 in its last 13 games, is so
depleted by injuries that nearly one-third of its current roster
began the season in the minors. Forwards Chris Minard and Jonathan
Filewich made their NHL debuts Monday.
Game notes
The Penguins had won seven in a row at home against
Washington. ... Malkin has 12 goals in 11 games. ... Ovechkin has
six goals and seven assists in 11 games against the Penguins, but
beat them for only the second time. ... Washington is 2-2 in
shootouts, Pittsburgh is 6-3. ... Kolzig won despite making only 10
saves. ... Ovechkin missed nearly as many shots (9) as the entire
Penguins team (10).