Capitals beat Penguins 6-5; Blues fall

PITTSBURGH -- 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 in a matchup of Russian stars. 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

Viktor Kozlov answered with 5ˆ½ 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.

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.