WASHINGTON -- Capitals star winger Alex Ovechkin doesn't like to talk about him, apparently out of superstition.

Veteran center Sergei Fedorov doesn't talk to him a lot, even though he is one of a handful of Washington players who speaks the same language.

Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, however, can't say enough about rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov -- in words and in the way he has stuck by him since taking a chance on him in the Capitals' second game of the postseason.

The 21-year-old Russian will start his 12th consecutive game tonight as Washington faces elimination at Mellon Arena in Game 6 of a second-round playoff series.

If the idea of such an important game -- on the road, in a marquee NHL matchup -- fazes him, he does a bang-up job covering it up.

"What is there to say?" Varlamov asked through a Russian interpreter after a 4-3 overtime loss Friday in Game 5.

"This is our only chance. There is nothing else we can do. We've got to win that game. If we don't win it, we go home."

If the Capitals lose their fourth consecutive game and bow out after taking a 2-0 lead in the series, it would be difficult to blame Varlamov. He has come from beyond nowhere to become one of the more intriguing stories of the postseason.

He was a first-round pick by Washington in the 2006 NHL draft but was essentially still a prospect playing in the American Hockey League before the playoffs. He had appeared in his first six NHL games with the Capitals during the season.

Then backup goaltender Brent Johnson got hurt and Boudreau had second thoughts about starter Jose Theodore after Washington dropped its playoff opener against the New York Rangers.

From then on, it has been all Varlamov in the Capitals' net. He was a major reason the Capitals came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to beat the Rangers.

Through yesterday, Varlamov was 6-4 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

"We believe in him," Boudreau said. "I know the coaching staff does, and I think the players do, too."

They do.

"We play pretty well with him," Fedorov said. "He gives us a chance to win.

"I always said that it's good sometimes if you don't know the pressure that is on your shoulders. I'm not sure he understands all this sort of hype and pressure from the media and fans and pressure to win the games. He's a good young goaltender."

One who speaks little to no English.

He has five Russian teammates with Washington, but they don't coddle Varlamov or spend a lot of time talking to him, Ovechkin and Fedorov said.

"We talk about how we feel before we go on the ice and how he feels during the game," Fedorov said. "Just basic stuff. Nothing major."

Varlamov is 2-3 this series, but Boudreau pointed out that if this was the regular season, that would be 2-1-2 with two overtime losses.

"And the two overtime losses, we put the puck in our own net," Boudreau said.

Unlike his coach, Varlamov wasn't cutting himself any slack.

"It's always hard when you play in overtime and you allow a silly goal like this -- twice now," Varlamov said. "The first overtime game, again it was a silly deflection.

"But as they say, the winners make their own luck."

Varlamov's shining moment came when he reached back to make a remarkable third-period stick save on Penguins star Sidney Crosby to preserve a 3-2 win. He looked his most vulnerable in a 5-3 loss in Game 4 with what Boudreau described as four soft goals.

"It would be easy to say that that was Varly's only bad game of the playoffs," Boudreau said.

Varlamov responded 24 hours later with 38 saves in the Game 5 overtime loss, a game in which he seemed to play much better.

"I think you could see that I did," he said.

He will have to do that and more tonight to get the Capitals back home for Game 7.