Ovechkin blah blah blah Crosby blah blah blah heavyweights Brashear blah Laraque blah 30 year old rivalry.

We shall see.

Game on.... icing Caps, 0:16.

Johnson and Conklyn are the goalies....

Icing Pens, 1:11.

Looks like there won't be much flow to this for a while (if ever). 

 

3:00 in, the SOGs are 3-0 Pens... Brashear and Laraque drop gloves.

GL gets DB's helmet off, but then DB drops him with a right. Draw, more to come, I think.

 

Caps get a PP with just over 7:00 gone, and....

just over 9:00 gone, we're back to ES.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz at the halfway mark of the 1st.

7:59 left, a mistake, a 3 on 1 break, and Taffe makes it 1-0 Pens.

4:36 left 1st, Gordon pursues the play behind the Pens' net, gets the puck, passes to the front of the crease, and there's....

Donald Brashear?!?

1-1!

Pens score at 2:07 left (really it was off Jurcina, just like Brashear's was courtesy of Gonchar).... in the scrum around the net, Johnson is injured, and Kolzig comes in... :16.1 left, Ovechkin takes a guy down, and heads for the box...

2-1 Pens, end 1st.

5:23  of zzzzzz, and :01 of WOW! as Pothier rockets one past Conklyn....

it's 2-2.

12:32 left 2nd, Semin takes a shoulder or maybe a high elbow (no call, though) from Ruutu dead in the jaw, and he's down and out.... off the ice now, but groggy on the bench. He got a "hang in there, buddy" poke in the ass from Olie, as he skated off doubled over....

A few minutes later Semin's back on the ice.... and Ruutu gives him another jostle, just to let him know....

6:30 left 2nd, still 2-2.

LOL, what would we do without your comments. Poor Semin.

I just showed misto this post I copied from official-"HDNet has him wired for sound the dude is so INTO the game...like a kid almost. When that tying goal was scored he cheered louder than anyone I've ever heard. When BJ was hurt he was standing there asking "you ok, you ok, you ok" over and over. Brashed just looked at him and shook his head."....

a Pens' turnover, and Alex buries it! His first goal against the Pens in 6 games!

3-2 Caps!

3-2 Caps, end 2nd.

Backstrom has the primary assist on the last two goals. Could have more than 40 assists this season. Better than Zubrus ever did here, if I'm not mistaken (yes, 34 assists in 71 games).

And I'll tell you, if you get to see the replay, that assist on the 2nd goal was a great hockey play by a 19 year old kid (is he still 19? ) - he had Sykora coming in to his left, and took him deep enough toward the goal where Sykora had to commit to HIM on the play, and then just dropped it back for the shot by Pothier, who was racing right into the spot Sykora vacated. Sykora never had a chance to recover, and Conklyn didn't have time to react. Backstrom saw all that before it happened.

Just terrific.

Since I missed it, here's the Gordon interview between periods (he's back after missing I think 13 games), courtesy of Oh Come On! over on official:

Gordon is the intermission guest.

Wind is OK
Trying to keep it simple, puck possession.
Key to playing Crosby/Malkin--take away time and space.
Faceoffs are going better than he expected coming back from the injury(crowesnote- 8-0 tonight) .

15:37 left in regulation, and the Caps go on the PP- the first penalty called on either team since the 1st period.

Ovechkin has left the ice, but Laughlin says it's an equipment problem, not an injury... Pens almost with a shortie...

back to even strength. And Kolzig with another big save.

9:27 left in regulation, TV timeout.... still no Ovechkin, the Pens' station reports it's a leg injury, but JB/CL have not said anything except now they don't know why he's gone.

Johnson's out for a good while:

Update from Tarik:

Johnson Out 2-4 Weeks

GM George McPhee said that goaltender Brent Johnson suffered a sprained ligament in his knee tonight when he went down awkwardly in the first period. He'll miss two to four weeks.

The Caps will obviously have to call up a replacement from Hershey tomorrow. McPhee said he would talk to the coaching staff before deciding which player to promote.

More later.

By Tarik El-Bashir | December 27, 2007; 9:28 PM ET

4:12 left, the Pens go on the PP.... Morrisonn in the box...

Pens keep it in for 1:43, then Kolzig makes "save of the game" says Laughlin....

but they score right off the draw.

3-3. 2:16 left in regulation.

 

OT.

Malkin with two fine chances very late in regulation, but the first, he missed, and the second, Kolzig was up to the task.

At 3:27 left in OT, Crosby behind the net, to Gonchar in front.

4-3 Pens, final.