FanHouse Dave Steckel

If the Washington Capitals are going to exorcise the demons of past playoff experiences, they're going to need their 21-year-old netminder, Simeon Varlamov, to steal a couple of games for them. After giving up a soft goal to Mark Eaton late in the second period, tying the game at two, it seemed reasonable to assume his confidence might be damaged, at least a little bit. Then again ... maybe it wasn't.

After making the save of the playoffs on Sidney Crosby, Varlamov shut the door for Washington as it pulled out a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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There were plenty of distractions entering Sunday's Game 6 between the Capitals and Rangers. New York head coach John Tortorella was suspended and watching from a sky box; winger Sean Avery, who was a healthy scratch for Game 5, was back on the ice; and Rangers GM Glen Sather was doing his best to provide the press with another distraction, as he issued an open letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman chastising the Capitals organization for failing to provide adequate security behind the visiting bench during Game 5.

But with all the static in the air, the Washington Capitals stayed focused, jumping out to a 3-1 lead after the first period, never looking back on their way to a 5-3 win to force a Game 7 in Washington on Tuesday night. That early lead came thanks to offense from an unlikely source: a trio of defensemen who seemed to have figured something out about Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

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Rangers 3, Islanders 1: For one night, everything was great at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers picked up a much needed 3-1 win over the Islanders. Scott Gomez, Nigel Dawes and Fredrik Sjostrom all scored goals in the win, while Chris Drury picked up an assist on each score.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25-of-26 shots in the win, which is only the Rangers second in their past 10 games.

For two periods Wednesday night's Penguins-Capitals tilt lived up to the hype -- and we certainly hyped it. Following some spirited trash talk between Alex Ovechkin and the Penguins bench prior to the start of the third period, Ovechkin transformed himself into a one-man wrecking crew, as he helped take over the game and lead the Capitals to a 6-3 win.

The Capitals scored four goals in the third period -- including two from Ovechkin -- as they snapped a three-game losing skid. Meanwhile, for the Penguins, the inconsistencies continued, as they failed to win back-to-back games yet again. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Penguins have not won consecutive games since the middle of November.