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Published: Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Malkin paces Pens to 5-4 win

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He scored one, assisted on another and had the deciding goal in the shootout.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby grabbed the headlines before Evgeni Malkin stole the show.

The ballyhooed matchup of last season's top two rookies lived up to the hype, but Malkin — this year's leading rookie — was the star on Monday night.

He notched a goal and assisted on one by Crosby in regulation, then scored the decisive tally in the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins erased a four-goal deficit and beat Ovechkin's Washington Capitals 5-4.

The other shootout goal

Erik Christensen also scored in the shootout for Pittsburgh, 2-3-1 in the past six games.

Capitals captain Chris Clark had two goals and two assist for the Capitals, who led 4-0 in the second period but couldn't hold on for their sixth win in seven games.

The Penguins stormed back with goals in the middle frame from Maxime Talbot, Christensen and Crosby, who scored for the fourth straight game.

Malkin tied it 3:20 into the third period.

Ovechkin had the Capitals' only goal in the shootout against Penguins' youngster Marc-Andre Fleury, who turned aside Mike Green and Chris Clark after making 29 saves through overtime.

Crosby, the runner-up to Ovechkin last season for rookie of the year honors, leads the Penguins with 14 goals and 41 points. He assisted on Malkin's goal but failed to convert in the shootout.

Crosby leads All-Star voting in the Eastern Conference, while Ovechkin is second among forwards.

The Penguins wore their helmets backward — rally style — during the shootout, and it paid off as they played their third straight overtime game.

Malkin got the Penguins there this time when he slipped a backhander past goalie Olie Kolzig while sprawling chest first on the ice in front of the net.

The Capitals made it 4-0 on a short-handed goal by Boyd Gordon, who skated uncontested to the net and beat Fleury gloveside.

The rally begins

That set the stage for Pittsburgh's rally.

Talbot got things going at 6:49 and Christensen made it 4-2 with 1:52 remaining in the period. Just 35 seconds later, Crosby's 14th of the season brought the Penguins within a goal.

Ovechkin was denied in front of the net by three Penguins, but he dug out the puck and scooped it to Clark, who scored his second goal of the game to make it 3-0 at 2:57 of the second period.

Kris Beech gave Washington a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal just 5:10 into the game. The Capitals' lead doubled 46 seconds later when Clark scored from nearly the same spot as his first goal — stuffing in a rebound of Ovechkin's shot.

Notes

Ovechkin has 18 goals and 37 points after his two-assist night. ... The Capitals are 6-2-3 in their last 11 home games against the Penguins. ... "This is one of those special matchups that generates more excitement the closer you get to game day," said Mike Baker, coordinating producer Versus, which televised the game. "I've been producing hockey games for over 25 years and this one has the same allure and anticipation to it of any I have seen, including [Wayne] Gretzky against [Mario] Lemieux."

Tuesday, December 12, 2006