WASHINGTON -- Relief didn't begin to describe the way the Washington Capitals felt yesterday after claiming Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Penguins.

"Very important to us. We didn't want to get behind in another series," center David Steckel said after he notched the Capitals' first goal in a 3-2 win yesterday at Verizon Center.

Washington lost its first two games -- also at home --to the New York Rangers, then beat heavy odds by coming back to win that first-round series in seven games.

"Nobody likes playing seven games and then [playing] a team that's fresh," Steckel said.

Besides, coach Bruce Boudreau said, coming back against the Rangers is one thing. The highly skilled Penguins, who advanced to the Stanley Cup final a year ago, are a bigger challenge.

"We know what we went through in the last series, and this team's better," Boudreau said. "No disrespect to the Rangers, but these guys come at you and come at you.

"We had to be ready. There's no chance if we would have gotten down, 2-0, at home that we would have been able to duplicate [what we did in the first round]."

By winning, the Capitals, seeded second in the Eastern Conference, took advantage of home ice against the No. 4 Penguins. Game 2 is tomorrow night here.

A day before the series started, Boudreau was saying there was no way for him to coach his players on how to handle the onslaught of media and hype for a matchup that draws as much attention as this one.

He jokingly picked a player who doesn't get a lot of attention when he said, "I don't think I'm going to go to David Steckel and talk to him about it."

Maybe he should have.

Steckel thrust himself into the limelight with his first goal and third point of the postseason.

Top-line winger Alex Ovechkin said the attention should spread to Steckel's linemates, center Brooks Laich and right winger Matt Bradley, who each assisted on Steckel's goal. That line gets overshadowed by Ovechkin's top line, which includes Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov, and the second line of Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Tomas Fleischmann.

"They played great against New York, and they scored a big goal in the first period," Ovechkin said. "I think we didn't play well the first 10 minutes. Only one line played well -- the Steckel line. They scored that goal, and we feel life on the bench."

Semin, a highly skilled winger who had 34 goals despite injury problems in the regular season, set up Ovechkin's goal in the first period during a five-on-three advantage.

Ovechkin, who temporarily moved to a forward spot from the point, was wide open to the left of the net when Semin faked a shot from the high slot and sent a screamer his way.

"I was shocked when he got me the puck," said Ovechkin, who is still dazzled at times by Semin. "I almost missed the net."

Semin's two assists gave him 10 points in the playoffs and a six-game point streak.