By Alan Robinson
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH ó On a night the Pittsburgh Penguins felt satisfied to limit Alex Ovechkin to one goal, they needed 31/2 periods and a huge disparity in shots and power plays before figuring out how to beat Washington and whiz kid goalie Simeon Varlamov.
They did it by turning Sidney Crosby, the goal scorer, back into Crosby, the exceptional setup man, and shaking NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin out of a slump that was threatening to put them out of the playoffs.
Kris Letang scored his first career playoff goal on a shot from the point at 11:23 of overtime following Crosby’s faceoff win, and the Penguins avoided going down three games to the Capitals by winning 3-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night.
Letang’s shot deflected off Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and past the 21-year-old Varlamov, who made 39 saves. Washington scored first ó on a goal by Ovechkin ó then let Pittsburgh control play for most of the game.
Crosby didn’t score in Game 3 but set up goals by Malkin and Letang for his first assists in six contests.