Not when Alexander Semin is around, at least. Tie game? Eleven seconds left on the clock? No problem.

What a strange game. The Russians attack. Backstrom looks like a different player. Jeff Schultz almost gets into a fight.

Yes, strange, strange game.

So how about those crazy Russians? There was some concern, and rightfully so, that piling Ovechkin, Semin and Fedorov into one action-packed top line was putting all the offensive eggs in one basket. And yet while that line was the only one to actually crack Cam Ward, we saw two things happen tonight.

One, Nicklas Backstrom had one of his best games of the year and appeared to be out there every other shift – when all was said and done he had almost 20 minutes, the most among any forward not named Alexander. He may not have scored but you could feel something different about the way he was skating, passing, even shooting – much more confident and comfortable. Definitely good to see.

And two, it created a different type of space for Semin and Fedorov to work with. Instead of facing a team’s second best defensemen, Semin in particular seemed to benefit from everyone flocking to Ovechkin whenever he had the puck until Semin was often left all alone. He might have fumbled the puck a few times (come on, it’s still Semin) but he also made some great plays and finished the night with two goals and an assist.

Give major credit to both goaltenders in this one for making some brilliant saves and keeping it tight all night long. Give identical credit to both teams for ramping up the intensity with each period until the third period practically exploded with energy and emotion and end-to-end rushes.

…did I mention Jeff Schultz almost got into a fight? I think it bears repeating.

You know, we all have seen how one game can serve as a kind of turning point for a team. A furious comeback, a thrilling finish, a late-game hero, all can turn the tide for a squad that’s maybe going the wrong direction. All three of those were in this game, a wild one and a highly entertaining (if not exactly good for the blood pressure) win for the Caps.

We won’t know for awhile if this was the one that makes things click, but the team on the ice certainly looked much closer to the team we saw back in April…and much less like the one we’ve been seeing lately.

A few odds and ends:

- Two injuries tonight, as Morrisonn tweaks his groin and Fedorov leaves with that old classic, the “lower-body injury”. Of course last time I checked, Morrisonn’s…is also lower-body.

- John Erskine was a -2. Hey, that’s a minus for each year of his new deal! Money well spent.

- After many games where there seems to be a never-ending parade to the box, there were exactly five infractions called all night. What’s even more bizarre is the fact that there were absolutely no special teams goals scored.

- A goal on the first shot of the game? How novel. Every team has their little fluky thing, I guess that’ll be ours.

- Of all the Southeast teams, this one really feels the most like a legitimate rivalry right now. Fairly even talent levels, high intensity and a healthy dose of hate on both sides are making this rivalry more and more entertaining to watch every year.

- Brent Johnson came up huge during the 5-on-3 against the Caps – which is good, since his blatant shot over the glass put them down by two men in the first place.

- Speaking of Johnny, that’s his second straight very good performance, despite a goal on the first shot and a softy by his own admission given up to Ruutu. If there wasn’t a goaltending controversy before, think there is now? Let’s just say that Jose might be interested in breaking this trend he has of getting chased by his backup.

- 11…seconds. That’s how close the Caps came to giving a point to their division rivals and only gaining a point (or losing a point) had it gone to overtime. Instead they pick up two points on Carolina and start creeping back up to where I think we all can agree they rightfully belong.

- Watching Sergei Fedorov get indignant and annoyed with the referees is always, always funny.

- Alexander Semin really likes playing against Carolina – with tonight’s 3 point performance he now has 20 points in 15 games against the Canes, including a couple of multi-goal nights mixed in. And that’s fine – he can take Carolina, Ovie will continue to carve up the Thrashers, Flash and Steckel can share Tampa duty…heck, that’s three of the four division teams right there.

- If there could be a fourth star of the game, I’d give it to Brooks Laich for taking a shot in the foot that clearly injured him (if only temporarily) and still managing to poke the puck out of the zone on the PK before hobbling to the locker room. He even came back a few minutes later and finished the game, apparently no worse for wear. That’s fourth star material for sure…or maybe a purple heart.

- Chris Clark had less than nine minutes of ice time tonight and still managed to take a penalty and be a -1. All we can do is give it time, and hopefully the old Clarkie will return soon enough.

- The Caps are still being a little too cutesy on the power play. Not news, but worth mentioning one more time.

- Also worth mentioning one more time? Jeff Schultz almost got into a fight.