Day 10 Round 2 NHL Playoffs 2009

Two very tight wins puts two teams a win away from advancing to the conference finals.

Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh wins 4-3 (Pittsburgh leads series 3-2)

After a thorough defeat of the Capitals the night before, the Penguins walked into Washington and capitalized on a rare overtime power play opportunity to steal a win on the road and take a 3-2 series lead. Alexander Ovechkin and Simeon Varlamov, the two stars absent in game 4, found their game back, as Varlamov made 38 saves and Ovechkin had 2 goals and an assist, including a third period goal with less than 5 minutes remaining to send the game into overtime. But Evgeni Malkin got a power play opportunity early in the third period, and the Penguins didn't even allow a shot on goal for Washington in overtime, and they won in a little over 3 minutes into extra time.

Vancouver Canucks vs Chicago Blackhawks: Chicago wins 4-2 (Chicago leads series 3-2)

The Chicago Blackhawks are not intimidated by the lack of home ice that helped them get past Calgary. The Blackhawks won their second game in Vancouver, and had to come back from a 1-2 deficit before scoring 2 unanswered and a third empty netter to secure the win to send the series back to Chicago for a chance to eliminate the Canucks. Vancouver's penalty kill continues to stall the Blackhawks, as Chicago went 1 for 5 with the man advantage. Luongo is getting a bit physical in the crease, shoving Blackhawks that are crashing the net late. However, the Sedin twins were absent on the scoreboard, and the brothers will need to step up if Vancouver is to tie the series and force a game 7.

Two big surprises in game 5's as both road teams won to attempt to eliminate their opponents at home for game 6 in a couple of days. Who would've thought that the young and inexperienced Blackhawks would make a push for the conference finals, while a Sergei Gonchar-less Penguins would upset the Capitals in overtime, on the power play no less. If Anaheim beats Detroit tomorrow, the NHL would be in position to have a complete underdog conference finals. Pittsburgh's win does have a huge astericks on it: Washington missed a wide open net for the game winning goal in overtime due to a bouncing puck. But the Penguins outplayed the Capitals throughout the game, so they probably deserved that luck.