PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Gone were the days of Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr was bouncing around from team to team, the NHL needed new, exciting stars. Thursday night, the two players who brought faces and rivalry back to the NHL will meet again, for how many more times, we aren’t sure.
Sidney Crosby leads the surprising Penguins hosting Alexander Ovechkin coming off his 900th career goal Thursday at 7:30p. There is really a third player in this conversation, Evgeni Malkin would be the best player ever for several organizations.
For 20 years they’ve battled and what’s made it special is that they remained in the same uniforms. They’ve represented a pair of fanbases that likely still take them for granted. The Caps were a 23-win team when Ovechkin joined them and two years later they were in the playoffs. The Pens were a 23-win team when Crosby joined them and in two years had them back in the playoffs.
There was no doubting their ability and hockey fans were only seeing the beginning.
As great as it was in the regular season, it needed something more to make it one of the greatest rivalries of all-time. After beating its in-state rival in the first round of the 2008-09 Stanley Cup playoffs, the stage was set for Crosby-Ovechkin-Malkin postseason magic.
Game 1 May 2, 2009 in Washington DC
· Crosby scored the first goal of the series, but by the end of the first period Ovechkin’s power play goal gave the Caps a lead and eventually a 3-2 win.
Game 2 May 4, 2009 in Washington DC
· In one of the greatest dueling performances in playoff history, Crosby and Ovechkin each had hat tricks with the Caps winning again by a goal, 4-3
Game 3 May 6, 2009 at Mellon Arena
· Up 2-0 in the series, this time it was Ovechkin with the first goal of the game and his assist on a Nicolas Backstrom power play goal with 2:50 to play in the game, sent it to overtime.
Crosby assisted on the Kris Letang winner for a first Pens win in the series
Game 4 May 8, 2009 at Mellon Arena
· Crosby scored the game-winning goal in the third period following an earlier assist for a 5-3 Pens win as Ovechkin had an assist and the series was tied
Game 5 May 9, 2009 in Washington DC
· Ovechkin had an early goal and then another game-tying goal in the third to send it to overtime. Malkin won it this time as the Pens took a 3-2 series lead
Game 6 May 11, 2009 at Mellon Arena
· Crosby with an early assist, but it was Ovechkin with three helpers to give the Caps a third period lead. Crosby scored at 15:42 to send the game to overtime. Caps won in OT in Pittsburgh to send the series back to DC.
Game 7 May 13, 2009 in Washington DC
· For the third time in the series, all on the road, Crosby would score the opening goal, the first of five straight Pens goals. Ovechkin would score, but Crosby matched it as the Pens won the series.
Each player had eight goals in that playoff series, Ovechkin finishing with 14 points to Crosby’s 13. Pens would win the Stanley Cup, but the NHL was the winner.
In 75 career games against the Capitals, Crosby scored 33 goals and 62 assists.
In 80 career games against the Penguins, Ovechkin scored 43 goals and 33 assists.
It’s been a slow start for Ovechkin this year, but he is now the only player in NHL history with 900 career goals. The 40-year-old is 11th all-time in NHL points.
The 38-year-old Crosby is second in the NHL in goals this year and is the only player to average at least a point a game over each of his first 19 seasons. He’s ninth in points in NHL history.
Pens-Caps, Crosby-Ovechkin.
How blessed have we been?