(Sports Network) - Alex Ovechkin notched his first career playoff hat trick, leading the Washington Capitals (web | news) to a 4-3 decision over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal battle at Verizon Center.

David Steckel provided the other goal for the Capitals, who lead the set 2-0 and hadn't won the first two games of a playoff series since the 2003 Eastern quarterfinals against Tampa Bay.

Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov each contributed two assists and Simeon Varlamov stopped 33 shots.

Sidney Crosby equaled his Capitals counterpart with a three-goal game for the Penguins, who have not faced an 0-2 series deficit since the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals with Detroit.

"I think it's great for our sport," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said of the matchup between Ovechkin and Crosby. "When you have hype, superstars playing against each other, and then the superstars played like superstars, it's a neat thing. It's fun to talk about that."

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 33 shots in the setback.

The series shifts back to Pittsburgh for Game 3 on Wednesday.

"We had opportunities," said Crosby. "In the last two games I can say we did some really good things, but we've made a few mistakes that have hurt us. That can be a good thing to look at as well to know that we're that close. These are things that we can easily identify and change quickly, but we have to do that."

Ovechkin rocketed home a dish by Mike Green from the left circle, and the Caps led 3-2, with 7:07 left in regulation. The go-ahead score came just four seconds after Pens forward Evgeni Malkin was sent off for tripping.

He finished off the hat trick almost 2 1/2 minutes later, using Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar as a screen and ripping a wrister high over Fleury's glove for a 4-2 Washington lead.

Caps defenseman Milan Jurcina was whistled for cross-checking with 1:41 left in the contest, and went 6-on-4 with Fleury on the bench for an extra skater.

Varlamov stopped Gonchar and Bill Guerin at the side of the net in the final minute, before Crosby registered his own trifecta by bunting the puck just inside the left post and crossbar with 30.4 remaining.

"That team never gives up," said Ovechkin. "It's not time right now to think 'okay we're going to win this game.' Mistakes can cost you a lot."

That was as close as the visitors came until the final buzzer.

As he did in Game 1, Crosby notched the first goal of the contest, slipping home the rebound of Gonchar's point drive for a power-play score 6:38 into the first period.

Varlamov stopped Kris Letang on a short-handed breakaway at the end of the Caps' second man-advantage, then got the tip of his glove while falling backward on a Gonchar blast as the Pens skated 5-on-3 late in the period.

Ovechkin opened the scoring in the second at 2:18, unloading a hard shot from a Kozlov dish in the left circle, then Crosby struck at 10:57, batting in his own rebound from inside the crease.

Steckel evened the game, settling Tyler Sloan's errant shot at the right post and slamming it home with 4:11 left in the second.

Game Notes

Al Iafrate logged the Caps' last playoff hat trick, during Game 5 of a Patrick Division semifinal series against the New York Islanders on April 26, 1993...Crosby posted his third career three-goal playoff game...Washington hadn't won the first two games of a series which it opened at home since the 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals against Ottawa...The Capitals also enjoyed 2-0 series leads in 1992 and 1996 against the Penguins but lost both series...Washington also lost that 2003 series with Tampa, in six games...The Capitals missed defenseman John Erskine, replaced by Sloan...Washington ended 1-for-5 on the man advantage, while Pittsburgh, which had not scored on the power play in its previous four games, was 2-for-5.







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