Saturday’s and Sunday’s home-and-home between the Penguins and Washington could be the last chapters in the NHL’s greatest individual rivalry ever.
I hope not.
Alex Ovechkin has 31 goals this season. He’s surely more than a bit dinged up given his career-long breakneck method, but Ovechkin can still play.
As for Sidney Crosby, an NHL record-extending 21st consecutive season averaging a point per game speaks volumes.
Crosby is signed through next season. Ovechkin says he will determine his future after the current campaign concludes. His contract is expiring.
Crosby is 38, Ovechkin 40.
But they’re still the faces of hockey.
That’s an indictment of the NHL and of certain talented sourpusses around the league. They must have had a group special on charisma bypass surgery.
Crosby vs. Ovechkin is straight out of central casting: Crosby is James Bond, Ovechkin a Bond villain from Russia. Not with love, not at first, but always with mutual respect and later with growing fondness. Pittsburgh fans have certainly come to embrace Ovechkin as a worthy foe.
Crosby and Ovechkin have been in the same division since 2013, the Metropolitan, playing each other constantly.
Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky never had that. Meetings were rare, occurring just 25 times. (I still bemoan the 1993 Lemieux-Gretzky Stanley Cup Final that should have been. But Lemieux once had a five-goal game vs. Gretzky.)
Crosby and Ovechkin contested four playoff series, the Penguins winning three. Each time, the winner went on to win the Stanley Cup. Crosby and Ovechkin famously both netted hat tricks in Game 2 of their 2009 playoff battle.
It always meant so much. From Day 1. It had buzz. Still does.
Crosby and Ovechkin entered the NHL in 2005 after a labor dispute wiped out the 2004-05 season, put the NHL on their backs and have since lived up to the incredible, almost unfair hype, Crosby especially. (But Ovechkin won Rookie of the Year. Round 1 to Ovechkin.)
The numbers piled up, of course.
• Crosby has won 43 regular-season games head-to-head, Ovechkin 31.
• Crosby won 13 playoff games, Ovechkin 12.
• Ovechkin has 38 goals, Crosby 35. (Surprisingly close.)
• Crosby has 97 points, Ovechkin 70.
• Ovechkin has 33 playoff points, Crosby 30. (Bit of an upset.)
But this rivalry is about what we saw, not what the scoresheet said: Two powerful, dynamic players butting heads like rams on a mountaintop. Will, skill, speed, copious amounts of everything, it all got tested for our entertainment 99 times with two more to go: Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, Sunday at D.C.
Unless the Penguins and Capitals meet in this year’s playoffs. The Penguins have clinched, the Capitals are a 6% longshot.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance.
Crosby vs. Ovechkin was non-stop.
It was hockey’s version of Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson. (Except Bird and Johnson only played head-to-head 37 times, albeit in three NBA Finals.)
Ovechkin is the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring leader. He has 30 goals or more in 20 of his 21 seasons, consistency that rivals Crosby’s.
Crosby will wind up with more than 2,000 points, second only to Gretzky.
If Ovechkin does retire at season’s end, it won’t be the same for Crosby. Especially when the Penguins and Capitals meet.
The Penguins should acknowledge Ovechkin during Saturday’s game.
Crosby and Ovechkin are so identified with each other that it’s like a small part of Crosby might be quitting. (Bird rued when Johnson retired.)
If Ovechkin does come back, I’ll just change a few words and run this column again next year.