For 20 years, it has been the most captivating show in hockey.

Whether the teams were battling to advance in the playoffs or each bound to miss the postseason, any matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and rival Washington Capitals was appointment viewing.

At least whenever Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were on the ice.

On Sunday, the two luminaries tangled one more time as Crosby’s Penguins were shut out by Ovechkin’s Capitals, 3-0, at Capital One Arena.

The 40-year-old Ovechkin has suggested he might retire after this season but indicated he has yet to make any decision.

And with Sunday’s win, the Capitals kept their waning postseason hopes alive and might wind up meeting the Penguins in the first round.

But if this was the last time Crosby and Ovechkin met as opponents, it was the conclusion of what was perhaps the NHL’s greatest rivalry between individual players, who both entered the league in 2005.

“He’s had a huge impact, on and off the ice,” Crosby said to reporters in Washington via audio provided by the team’s media relations department. “Came in (to the NHL) with such high expectations, and I think he matched them, if not more.”

At least one member of the Penguins has doubts that this will be Ovechkin’s final season.

“I think he’s back next year, for sure,” said forward Evgeni Malkin, friends with Ovechkin. “He’s still hungry.”

A day after the Penguins scratched a number of their top players because of various unspecified injuries for a 6-3 home loss to the Capitals, the Penguins dressed most of their best on Sunday, as Crosby and Malkin, along with forward Bryan Rust, as well as defensemen Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, suited up.

While most of their top players were in Sunday’s lineup, the Penguins, who have nothing left to gain or lose as far as their postseason seeding, opted to scratch a handful of key contributors, including forwards Noel Acciari, Ben Kindel and Anthony Mantha, as well as defensemen Connor Clifton and Ryan Shea, because of undisclosed ailments.

Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 23 of 25 shots as his record fell to 23-17-9.

In the other net, goaltender Logan Thompson made 24 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season and improve his mark to 31-21-6.

Capitals rookie forward Justin Sourdif appeared to open the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period at the 19:15 mark, but the Penguins issued a successful coach’s challenge, euthanizing the offense.

A valid goal occurred at 12:22 of the second period when defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk tallied his third score of the season.

From near the right corner of the offensive zone, Capitals forward Connor McMichael dealt a pass to the right of the crease for linemate Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was denied in tight by Skinner. The puck slid to the left of the blue paint, where van Riemsdyk slipped in from the left circle and jabbed a backhander on net. Skinner’s right skate kept that attempt out, but he was unable to deny van Riemsdyk’s subsequent attempts. Dubois and McMichael had assists.

McMichael scored his 13th goal at 15:50 of the third period.

Off a two-on-one rush with McMichael against Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov, Capitals rookie forward Ryan Leonard gained the offensive zone on the right wing and centered the puck to the slot for McMichael, who attacked the cage and deposited a backhander through Skinner’s five hole. Assists went to Leonard and defenseman Marin Fehervary.

Another goal by McMichael on an empty net came at 17:16 of the third off assists from Ovechkin and Fehervary.

Notes:

• The Penguins were shut out for the fifth time this season.

• The Capitals’ last shutout of the Penguins came in a 6-0 road win on March 7, 2024. Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 39 saves in that contest.

• Penguins forwards Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte were scratched because of undisclosed injuries that have sidelined them for multiple games.

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• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Jake Livanavage, as well as forward Avery Hayes, were healthy scratches.

• Mantha missed his first game of the season. That leaves forward Tommy Novak as the only member of the Penguins’ roster who has appeared in all 81 games thus far in 2025-26.