The nation’s capital is now chalk full of Russians. Ah. Legendary Buffalo Sabres’ announcer Rick Jeanneret would be proud. The great caller of “top shelf, where Mama hides the cookies” is also the father of one of the most entertaining calls ever known to us all as, “It’s Russia Time,” which was a Yuri Khmlev hat trick which followed an Alexander Mogilny one in a home blowout of the Rangers maybe 15 years earlier.

In any event, the Capitals have become a team of Russian stars. Well sort of. They only boast the league’s leading scorer in Alexander Ovechkin plus countrymen Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov. A couple of them helped Washington come away with a huge extra point in a 2-1 home shootout victory over the Bruins, who with the guaranteed bullshit point tied the idle Rangers for sixth in the East.

A Chuck Kobasew power play tally in midway through regulation matched a Fedorov first period 5-on-3 blast to help force the pivotal contest to overtime. Only an Alex Auld great glove stop on OT specialist Mike Green (3 winners incl. 2 vs NYR) and a wide Dennis Wideman shot from 12 feet out late allowed it to reach the skill competition.

Remarkably, the Caps in their history had at least 20 losses in the shootout showing just how detrimental it can be to one’s playoff chase. However, recent history didn’t matter as a pair of wonderful moves by Semin and Kozlov allowed them to skate off with the two points, crawling to within two of the eighth seeded Flyers who got their asses handed to them on national TV in Pitt as discussed earlier today.

A Semin toe drag and top shelf shot beat Auld in Round One. Kobasew then tried a wrister for the stick side but was denied by Washington netminder Cristobal Huet, who finished with 39 stops altogether.

Following an Ovechkin miss, Boston shootout specialist Phil Kessel’s backhand deke just missed wide giving Kozlov a chance to win it. He sealed the deal with a quick deke and shot thru Auld’s five-hole to allow his teammates to get the important victory.

With the Panthers also winning at home over Atlanta to keep pace, here’s how the race for that final spot shapes up:

8.Flyers  80 Pts  35 W   9 GR

9.Sabres  79 Pts  34 W   9 GR

10.Caps    78 Pts  35 W   9 GR

11.Florida 78 Pts  35 W   8 GR