Alexander Ovechkin scored his first playoff hat trick in the Washington Capitals' 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Sidney Crosby also had his first playoff hat trick, as the showdown between stars continued. But Ovechkin thinks that the rivalry between the two is getting in the way of the battle between two talented teams -- a battle the Capitals are winning 2-0, with the Penguins back in Pittsburgh for Game 3.

Dmitry Shumin and I spoke with some players after Game 2 for reaction to Ovechkin/Crosby, the goaltending battle and what the Penguins need to do to get back into the series. Coming up, words with Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar, Capitals goalie Simeon Varlamov, and a special note from Atlanta Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk. But first, here's Ovechkin after Game 2:

Q. I know that you get really tired of this question. But this series thus far is exactly what the NHL wanted: Crosby vs. Ovechkin.

OVECHKIN: I am tired of

Game 1 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals was billed as Alexander Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby. But by the end of the series, will we be talking more about Simeon Varlamov vs. Evgeni Malkin?

Varlamov made what some are calling the save of the season on Crosby, and had 34 saves in the 3-2 win. Malkin had only had two shots on goal, but did the heavy lifting on Mark Eaton's game-tying goal in the second period.

I spoke with both players after Game 1 to talk about Capitals' win and what to expect in the coming games. First up is Malkin:

Q. In a few words, how would you describe today's game?

MALKIN: It was a good game. I hope all fans enjoyed it. Both teams played an even game, a good game. Neither team had a great advantage over the other. Washington was just a bit lucky I think.

How important is this first game of the series? And how can it affect the outcome of the series?

The series is long and it would be wrong to say that the first game is the most important. Of

After making 14 saves in the Washington Capitals' Game 7 victory over the New York Rangers, rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov received a postgame gift from teammates Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin.

"Ovie came over to give me a hug. I opened my mouth and got a shaving cream pie in my face. My mouth was full of shaving cream," said Varlamov.

"Varly" was one hero for the Capitals in Game 7; the other was Sergei Fedorov, whose third-period goal sent Washington into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The 39 year old was playing in the eighth Game 7 of his career.

I spoke with Varlamov and Fedorov last night about the pressures of winning a challenging finale game against the Rangers and looking ahead to the highly-anticipated series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

First up is Varlamov:

Q. Did you like the present Sergei Fedorov made for your birthday by scoring a series winning goal? (Varlamov turned 21 on Monday)

VARLAMOV: Only Sergei Fedorov could have made that

While the suspension of New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella is getting all the attention before today's Game 6 showdown between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals at MSG, the most important key to the game could be how goalie Henrik Lundqvist bounces back from his worst performance of the series.

Lundqvist was pulled from Game 5 after surrendering four goals on 14 shots. One of them was a soft goal by Matt Bradley from the side of the net. After seeing the puck go in, Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau was certain his team would see a different Lundqvist this afternoon.

"Every great goalie, every now and again, makes a mistake. Thing that worries me about that ... when I saw it go in, I thought 'He's going to be great the next game,'" said Boudreau after Game 5.

Alexander Ovechkin, who scored a highlight reel goal in the second period that may have chased Lundqvist for the third period, spoke with me after Game 5 and talked about this recent success against King Henrik --

Washington Capitals forward Alexander Semin and goalie Simeon Varlamov were both difference-makers against the New York Rangers in Game 3. Semin had two first-period goals in the Capitals' 4-0 win, and Varlamov had 33 saves and the shutout.

The critical Game 4 of this series is tonight at MSG. I spoke with Semin and Varlamov after Game 3 about getting the Capitals back into this series, and what to expect from the Rangers tonight.

First, Alexander Semin on how Washington was able to solve the Rangers:

Q. Congratulations on your victory. The Capitals didn't look themselves [in Game 3].

SEMIN: Why didn't we look ourselves?

Because during the last month or so the team didn't play as well as expected and there was some kind of lack of chemistry.

It wasn't that bad. Even in the previous game we only conceded one goal. We played really well in Game 2, we just didn't have some luck at times.

You and Backstrom are playing really well together. It was noticeable during the final games of the

The patriarch of hockey journalism Michael Farber wrote an excellent piece about Pavel Datsyuk recently. He quoted Mike Babcock saying: "If you're down a goal in the last minute, who do you want out there -- Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin or Datsyuk? Any of them. But if you're up a goal in the last minute and need to protect the lead, who would you want? You'd want Pav."

The Red Wings haven't had a finalist for the Hart trophy since Sergei Fedorov won it in 1994. The Red Wings also haven't had a 100 point producer since Fedorov's glory days in the Motown. The most impressive fact about Datsyuk's point production is that he plays defense as good as anyone in the NHL.

"It's hard to get 100 points when you pay as much attention to defense as he does. Very few top forwards have that kind of commitment to defense," Ken Holland said recently.

SovSport's Dmitry Shumin and I decided to catch up with tireless Datsyuk, who might very well be the third finalist, together with Evgeni Malkin of the

The San Jose Sharks have already clinched their division and are now awaiting the playoffs. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov is a very big reason the Sharks are challenging for the Stanley Cup this season.

He is rightly considered one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL. Drafted in the 9th round of the 1994 draft, he made his first NHL appearance on New Year's Day in 2000, replacing Steve Shields in a game against the Nashville Predators. A little over two weeks later, Nabokov started his first NHL game against Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche. At the start of the game the goaltending stats in the 'win' column read "Roy 427, Nabokov 0." But Nabokov stopped all 29 shots to earn the Sharks a draw.

He continued to perform very well for the Sharks and won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2001, becoming the first and the only non-North American born goaltender to achieve this honor. Nabokov felt that he deserved to be paid accordingly, and at the beginning of the 2002-2003 season he decided to

The Selke Trophy has been given out to the NHL's top defensive forward since 1978, and had rarely been given to players who are perhaps better known for their offense. Perhaps only Doug Gilmour, Sergei Fedorov, Ron Francis and Steve Yzerman fit that description, until Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings joined that exclusive group last season.

"I think he's one of the best all-around players in the League," said Yzerman, the former Detroit captain who is now a vice president/alternate governor with the Red Wings.

"He's so good with his stick. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux had that ability to come up behind you, lift your stick and take the puck. Pav's as good as those guys at doing that."

Datsyuk's talents and accomplishments on the ice have made him a star. But as we stated in Part One of our interview with him, Datsyuk is rather reserved off the ice; to the point where his interesting views on the game and his frequently hilarious dry sense of humor remain hidden from many fans