Semyon Varlamov, pictured here at training camp, provided a sparkling
performance in a 2-0 shutout of Buffalo last night. Photo by photopete.

Semyon Varlamov earned his first shutout of the season Wednesday night, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Caps — who had dropped three straight games and four of their last five — were nursing a one-goal lead in the third against Buffalo Wednesday night, when Alex Ovechkin was called for a five minute boarding penalty after a hit on Patrick Kaleta and given a game ejection for misconduct with 16:22 left. But with the pressure on, the Caps’ penalty kill, with Varlamov anchoring, came through twice: first during Ovechkin’s lengthy penalty, and then during a Mike Green delay of game penalty later in the period. Eventually, Eric Fehr found the net to push the score to 2-0 and seal the win.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters afterward he’d already watched the clip of Ovechkin’s hit “half a dozen” times and thought it warranted, at most, a two-minute minor.

“He hits him in the shoulder, and Kaleta saw him coming,” Boudreau said, adding that Kaleta cries wolf frequently.

Caps center Jay Beagle had a similar take.

“[Ovechkin] made a great hit, I thought — the guy just kind of turned,” Beagle said.

Ovechkin was diplomatic when asked if he thought it was a penalty.

“If the ref decide[s] to give me a penalty, it’s a penalty,” Ovechkin said.