Penguins win in OT

The Pittsburgh Penguins finally solved Simeon Varlamov, finally controlled Alex Ovechkin for most of a game and got the victory they needed at home to get back into their playoff series against the Washington Capitals.

Kris Letang scored his first career playoff goal on a shot from the point at 11:23 of overtime, after Sidney Crosby’s faceoff win, and the Penguins avoided going down three games to the Capitals by winning, 3-2, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

Letang’s shot deflected off Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and past Varlamov, who had stopped nearly everything the Penguins threw at him. Washington scored first -- on a goal by, who else, Ovechkin -- then let Pittsburgh control the play for most of the game. The Penguins outshot the Capitals, 42-23, and had a 7-2 edge in power plays.

Pittsburgh also got Evgeni Malkin’s pivotal first goal in six games and shook off Nicklas Backstrom’s late power-play goal to win their sixth consecutive overtime playoff game, five by 3-2 scores.

The victory prevented near-certain elimination for Pittsburgh. No NHL team has rallied from a 3-0 playoff deficit in 34 years.

Carolina 3, Boston 2 (OT) -- Jussi Jokinen came through with another dramatic goal for the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

Jokinen scored at 2:48 of overtime to lift the Hurricanes past the Bruins to take a 2-1 edge in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Sergei Samsonov scored a goal and assisted on Jokinen’s winner for the Hurricanes. Carolina outshot the Bruins, 41-23.

Game 4 in the series is Friday night in Raleigh.

Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic both scored their first goals of the playoffs for Boston. The top-seeded team in the East has lost two straight and finds itself trailing a playoff series for the first time this year.

That is because Jokinen delivered yet another clutch goal, his fifth of the playoffs.