PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s the 69th career head-to-head matchup between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin Thursday night in Washington DC. While neither has announced intensions of retirement, they may have few left with this much at stake.
Has this matchup just become commonplace? It really is rare to have a pair of players at the top of their game play within the same division at roughly the same age. It’s a twosome that helped carry the league past the lockout. No matter where you live, you tuned in to watch Sid versus Ovi.
Thursday night, it’s as close to a playoff matchup as you can get. It’s April and with seven games left the Pens are three points out of the final Wild Card spot. The Capitals are currently tied for that final Wild Card spot. A win allows the Pens to continue to close the gap, but a loss not only keeps the Pens at 79 points, but the Caps improve to 84 points and they have a game in hand against the Penguins.
Tuesday night it was Crosby who started the comeback against New Jersey with a power play goal. He’s had 15 points in the last six games.
Here is a look at some quick head-to-head stats between these future Hall of Famers and all-time greats.
Crosby vs. Ovechkin matchups
Vs. opposing teams
· Ovechkin-74 points (41 goals) in 75 games vs. Pens
· Crosby-90 points (31 goals) in 70 games vs. Caps
4 playoff series
· 2009 (Pens won in 7 games)-Ovechkin-14 points (8 goals), Crosby 13 points (8 goals)
· 2016 (Pens won in 6 games)-Ovechkin-7 points (2 goals), Crosby 2 points
· 2017 (Pens won in 7 games)-Ovechkin-5 points (2 goals), Crosby 7 points (2 goals)
· 2018 (Caps won in 6 games)-Ovechkin-7 points (3 goals), Crosby 8 points (3 goals)
1st goals
· Ovechkin’s 1st goal vs Pens came in 8-1 Washington loss on January 25, 2006
· Crosby’s 1st goal vs Caps came in 5-4 Pens win on November 22, 2005 (Crosby had goals in 4 of first 5 games vs Washington)
2023-24 matchups
· Ovechkin goal & assist in Washington 6-0 win on March 7 at PPG Paints Arena
· Ovechkin and Crosby with goals in 4-3 Washington win on January 2 at PPG Paints Arena
· Crosby 2 goals in Pens 4-0 win on October 13 at Capital One Arena
While it seems like they will be, and as much as fans and the league hope they will be, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin won’t play the game forever. Enjoy the rivalry, especially Thursday with a lot on the line. It truly has been something special.