on a wrist shot in the first period, only to have Capitals centre David Steckel tie the game later on. Pittsburgh later found themselves trying to kill a 5-on-3 penalty, and Washington capitalized on it on a goal by Alexander Ovechkin assisted by Alex Semin to take a 2–1 lead. Mark Eaton tied the score at two a little over halfway into the game, but it was Tomas Fleischmann who scored the only goal of the third period to give Washington a 3–2 win and a 1–0 series lead. Game 2 proved to be one of the most notable games in Capitals-Penguins playoff history, as Crosby and Ovechkin both scored hat-tricks in the game. Steckel was the only other player in the game to score a goal, thus giving Washington a 4–3 win (with Ovechkin's third goal being the winning goal) and a 2–0 series lead with the series shifting to Pittsburgh. In Game 3, Washington got the start they wanted, as Ovechkin opened the scoring for the Capitals . Fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin and Ukrainian Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the second and third period, respectively, to give the Penguins a 2–1 lead in the game. With 1:23 left in regulation, Nicklas Backstrom tied the game for Washington. The Capitals were unable to build off of his goal in overtime, as Penguins' defenseman Kris Letang's shot deflected off Capitals' defenseman Shaone Morrisonn past goalie Semyon Varlamov and into the net to give Pittsburgh a 3–2 overtime win and cut Washington's series lead in half. In Game 4, Washington scored first once more (from Nick Backstrom assisted by Alex Semin), but just like the previous game, Pittsburgh took the lead, this time from a power play goal by Sergei Gonchar and even-strength goals from Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko. Winger Chris Clark scored in the second period for Washington to make it 3–2. The Capitals and Penguins traded goals until the end of the game for a 5–3 final score in favor of Pittsburgh. The series was tied 2–2 heading back to the Verizon Center. A Yanni concert in Pittsburgh had forced the two teams to play Games 4 and 5 on back-to-back days. Game 5 started with Steckel missing a wide-open net 19 seconds into the first period; the two teams got into a scrum at the end of the period. Alexander Ovechkin and John Erskine of Washington and Brooks