Ovechkin sparks Caps to shootout triumph

The Pens could not capitalize on a golden opportunity in overtime.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alexander 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 Pittsburgh’s Evgeni 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.

But Malkin never got the puck in the shootout. Coach Michel Therrien went with three other shooters, 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 three minutes of the five-minute extra period.

Ryan Malone put the Penguins up 5-4 about five minutes into the third, tipping in Sergei Gonchar’s shot from between the circles that was reviewed at length because Malone’s stick was close to being above the net.

Viktor Kozlov answered with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation for the Caps with his second 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.

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.

Malkin had to be very good in this game merely to keep up with Ovechkin.

One good shift by one would be followed by a better shift by the other, with the two stars once figuring in five goals — with each scoring twice — in a 12-minute span.

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.

Ovechkin obviously wasn’t intimidated, scoring a power-play goal less than two minutes into the second period on a soft shot that almost fluttered as it landed behind goalie Dany Sabourin, putting Washington up 3-2.