(Sports Network) - Sidney Crosby and Ruslan Fedotenko each notched a goal and an assist, as the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 5-3 win over the Washington Capitals (web | news) in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Mellon Arena.

Bill Guerin, Maxime Talbot and Sergei Gonchar each notched a goal in the win for the Penguins, who evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves in the win.

The bad news for Pittsburgh, though, is that the team lost Gonchar in the game with a knee injury.

The play occurred with a bit over five minutes to play in the first period, as Gonchar and Alexander Ovechkin collided in the Pittsburgh end of the ice on a knee-on-knee hit.

Gonchar was skating out from behind the net, and Ovechkin appeared to stick out his right knee a moment before the two hit. Gonchar spent a good amount of time on the ice and was then assisted to the locker room, unable to put any weight on the leg. Ovechkin was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping on the play.

"I think it was a dirty hit, and I feel the league should take care of that," Fedotenko said. "If they don't do that, we can go and take out other players like that too, trying to hit knee-on-knee. I feel like it should be punished."

Chris Clark, Nicklas Backstrom and Milan Jurcina each lit the lamp for the Capitals, who won the first two games of the series in Washington. Simeon Varlamov was charged with all five goals on 28 shots.

"Things didn't go good for us tonight," said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau. "We'll get back at things tomorrow and hopefully turn it around."

Washington is hoping to avoid its past playoff history with the Penguins, as the team has twice lost a series to Pittsburgh after leading, 2-0. The first occurred in 1992, when the Pens defeated the Caps in seven games, and the second time was in 1996, when the Pens won four straight to take the series in six games. Also, in 1995, the Caps had a 3-1 series lead and wound up losing to the Penguins in seven games.

The teams have little time to rest, as Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday in Washington.

Holding a one-goal lead, the Pens made it a 4-2 game just 4:16 into the third period on a 2-on-1 break, as Miroslav Satan sent a pass from the low right side to the left where Crosby had the easy tap-in.

However, the Caps made it a one-goal game just over two minutes later while skating shorthanded, as Jurcina blasted a shot from the right point that beat Fleury with a defender in his net.

Pittsburgh, though, sealed the win with 5:14 to play. Talbot grabbed the puck after it bounced off the left boards in the neutral zone, flew in down the wing and snapped a wrister into the net.

The Caps got on the board first, as Backstrom's slap shot from the top of the left circle beat Fleury to the far side just 36 seconds into the contest.

However, the Pens scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room.

The first came on a power play after Clark was called for cross-checking. Several chances were turned aside by Varlamov, but Gonchar's slap shot from the high slot beat the goaltender cleanly at the 3:55 mark.

Shortly after Fleury made a nice glove save on a Sergei Fedorov shot, the Pens took the lead. A turnover in the Washington end resulted in Crosby getting the puck down low, and he had two whacks at the puck, both of which Varlamov stopped, but the second rebound popped out front, and Guerin buried it at the 10:47 mark.

Skating 4-on-4 shortly after the hit that injured Gonchar, Fedotenko gave Pittsburgh a two-goal lead, as his soft wrister from the high slot hit off the glove of Varlamov and went in with 4:52 to play in the opening period.

Washington made it a one-goal game with under five minutes to play in the second period. Mike Green found himself with the puck in the high slot, maneuvered through traffic and threw a shot on net from the low slot that hit off the right post. The rebound went out front, and Clark banged it in.

Game Notes

Crosby has nine goals and seven assists in the playoffs, which is good for a share of first-place overall in points with Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf...Pittsburgh went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Washington finished the game 0-for-4...Pittsburgh defenseman Rob Scuderi had two assists in the game...Washington's only triumph in the playoffs against Pittsburgh came in six games in the 1994 conference quarterfinals.























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