WASHINGTON -- Three goals from Alex Ovechkin. Two feet of snow on the ground. One big comeback against a detested rival, with punches and name-calling added for good measure.
The biggest number of all: 14, the length of a winning streak topped by just two other teams in NHL history.
What a Super Sunday it was for the Washington Capitals, who got a hat trick from their two-time reigning league MVP and made up a three-goal deficit to beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime.
"It was what people pay to see, when the superstars shine," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "There's tension, and there's excitement, and there's physical play, and there's passion on both sides. That's what hockey is all about."
Ovechkin's three-goal burst gave him a league-high 42, pulling away from Crosby after the Pittsburgh centre had tied him at 39 by scoring a pair in the first period. The robust crowd that braved atrocious travel conditions went delirious and threw dozens of red hats on the ice when Ovechkin tied the game with 8:54 to play, completing a comeback from a 4-1 second-period deficit.
The celebration reached another level when Mike Knuble poked in the rebound 2:49 into overtime after Ovechkin's shot hit the post during a Capitals power play. Washington got the man advantage when Brooks Orpik was sent off for high sticking Alexander Semin, a call that prompted Orpik to call Semin "a baby."
The Penguins had to fly into Newark, N.J., from Montreal after their Saturday afternoon game against the Canadiens. The team then took a five-hour bus ride, arriving in Washington at 2:15 a.m.
