WASHINGTON -- OK, let's review.

Here is some of what the Penguins did en route to a 4-3 overtime victory against Washington in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series at the Verizon Center last night.

They played without their best defenseman. Scored the dreaded first goal of the game. Were guilty of an unforced blunder that cost them a goal. Trailed after two periods to a team that was undefeated when it led going into the third.

Pretty nice formula for a defeat there. Perhaps a lopsided one, at that.

So all of that might have been enough to cost the Penguins a victory, if Matt Cooke hadn't picked this night to get his first playoff goal since 2004. If Jordan Staal hadn't scored his first in 17 playoff games.

And especially if Capitals defenseman Tom Poti hadn't decided that it would be a swell idea to break up an Evgeni Malkin pass to Sidney Crosby as a Penguins power play was winding down early in overtime.

That's part of Poti's job description, of course, and, to his credit, Malkin's feed never made it to Crosby.

Trouble is, the puck caromed off Poti's stick and past Capitals goalie Simeon Varlamov at 3:28 to give the Penguins the eighth victory in their past nine overtime decisions.

"I [got] a good bounce off the [defenseman]," Malkin said.

Good enough to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead in the series and a chance to claim a spot in the Eastern Conference final opposite Carolina or Boston with a victory in Game 6 at 7:08 p.m. tomorrow at Mellon Arena. If the Capitals win, Game 7 will be Wednesday in Washington.

Make no mistake: With four of the first five games in this series decided by one goal and the other by two, it'd be a little premature for the Penguins to be booking hotel rooms in Raleigh or Massachusetts just yet.

"Every night, it's been a good battle," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "I expect the same Monday."

The Penguins presumably will be without their No. 1 defenseman, Sergei Gonchar, who sat out Game 5 because of an injury inflicted by a knee-to-knee hit from Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin in Game 4 Friday.

Although the Penguins have not announced a prognosis for Gonchar and describe him as "day to day," there's no indication he'll be able to play in the immediate future.

Coach Dan Bylsma does not, in general, like to dress seven defensemen, but did so last night. Philippe Boucher played for just the second time in 11 playoff games and rookie Alex Goligoski made his NHL playoff debut. Because the Penguins could dress just 11 forwards, Pascal Dupuis was a healthy scratch.

Staal put the Penguins in front, 1-0, at 5:17 of the second period, when he took a feed from Miroslav Satan and beat Varlamov from low in the right circle.

A few hours later, the Penguins became the only team in this series to win a game when scoring first.

That lead lasted just 59 seconds, however, as Ovechkin used defenseman Brooks Orpik as a screen and blurred a wrist shot past Fleury from above the left circle.

The Penguins were guilty of a totally unnecessary penalty at 14:19, when they were caught with too many men on the ice, and paid dearly for it 16 seconds later, when Nicklas Backstrom worked a give-and-go with Sergei Fedorov before scoring from the inner edge of the right circle.

The goal gave Backstrom a point in eight consecutive games, a franchise playoff record.

Although Backstrom's goal gave Washington some serious momentum, it dissipated when Ruslan Fedotenko took a between-the-legs drop pass from Malkin and beat Varlamov from the top of the left circle 51 seconds into the third.

"Just throw the puck to the net and good things happen," said Fedotenko, whose goal was his third of the series.

Cooke put the Penguins ahead, 3-2, at 6:27, but Ovechkin forced overtime when he got a pass from Backstrom and beat Fleury from just below the right dot at 15:52.

"I was just disappointed, because we were doing so well," Fleury said.

He got over it, though. So did his teammates.

"We stayed positive," right winger Bill Guerin said. "We understand that there are some ups and downs in the midst of a game, and there's nothing you can do about it. We're doing a pretty good job of just moving on."

In the games. And, with one more victory, in the tournament.