Ovechkin 'still battling' with Crosby after 2 decades

ARLINGTON, Va. -- If this is, indeed, the last dance for Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, they might as well go for a double dip.

The longtime rivals will face off twice in the final weekend of the regular season with Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, TVAS) before the teams head to Washington for a rematch at Capital One Arena on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, MNMT, truTV, TNT, SN360, TVAS).

These will be the 100th and 101st games between Crosby and Ovechkin in the NHL, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, during their 21 seasons in the League. Whether there will be a 102nd is unknown.

Ovechkin, the NHL record holder with 928 regular-season goals, is in the final season of a five-year, $47.5 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value) he signed with Washington in 2021 and the 40-year-old left wing said earlier this week that he will wait until the offseason to decide whether he'll play in the NHL again next season.

In the meantime, Ovechkin hopes to make the most of the three regular-season games the Capitals have remaining, including the two against Crosby and the Penguins. 

"It's history what we have, 20 years playing against each other," Ovechkin said Friday. "We came into the League at the same time and we're still battling and we still have a good match."

The Capitals (40-30-9) are trying to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They trail the Philadelphia Flyers by three points for third in the Metropolitan Division and are five points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card from the East. 

The Penguins (41-22-16) clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2022 with a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and are locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division. So they have little to play for standings-wise in their final three regular-season games.

Crosby versus Ovechkin has always meant something more, though, and their appreciation for each other and for the rivalry has grown as they've reached the latter stages of their careers.

Knowing this might be the end of it will add another element to these two games. 

"Just try to enjoy it, but obviously we're trying to make sure we're playing the right way and try to focus on that," Crosby said. "But if it is the last couple games, I want to definitely embrace that."

The feelings weren't always as warm between Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, and Ovechkin, No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft. They have been pitted against each other since their first NHL meeting at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh on Nov. 22, 2005. 

Each viewed was a generational player and they faced immense pressure not only to turn around their rebuilding teams but also reignite interest in the NHL after the 2004-05 season was cancelled because of a lockout. Then Capitals coach Glen Hanlon recalled last year how amped up Ovechkin was before that first game against Crosby, "doing all these jumps," in the hallway outside the visiting locker room.

"There was just this intensity," Hanlon said. "And he goes, 'I've got to play good.' It just meant so much to him in that first game in there to be better. To be better was important to him."

Crosby had a goal and an assist, and the Penguins jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second period. Ovechkin assisted on Matt Pettinger's goal to spark a third period comeback that fell short with Pittsburgh holding on for a 5-4 victory. That was just the beginning. 

"It's still the same since the first game when we played against each other," Ovechkin said. "The fans are in and you guys (the media) are in, and we take that energy and put it on the ice."

In their 74 regular-season meetings, Crosby leads with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) and the Penguins are 43-27-4 ahead of Ovechkin's 70 points (38 goals, 32 assists) and the Capitals' 31-33-10 record. Ovechkin has the edge with 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) compared to Crosby's 30 (13 goals, 17 assists) in the 25 playoff games between them, but Pittsburgh won the first three of their four postseason series, going on to win the Stanley Cup each time (2009, 2016, 2017).

When the Capitals finally broke through and defeated the Penguins in six games in the 2018 Eastern Conference Second Round, they went on to win the Cup for the first time. Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs that season after Crosby won the Conn Smythe in 2016 and 2017.

"There will never be another rivalry like that," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. "There will never be Ovi and Crosby, I don't think, ever again. It was something that's obviously been a rivalry and just basically two legends coming in at the same time and going to toe-to-toe their whole careers and both having such longevity and both carrying the weight every single season and putting up superstar numbers … 

"That duo has been so good for the game of hockey and what they've done for the game, I don't think is ever going to be recreated."

Crosby holds the Penguins record with 1,761 points (654 goals, 1,107 assists) in 1,419 games, after passing Mario Lemieux (1,723) earlier this season, and is seventh in NHL history. In addition to holding the NHL record in goals after overtaking Wayne Gretzky (894) last season, Ovechkin is 10th in League history with 1,684 points in 1,570 games.

What made the rivalry special was how each seemed to push the other to elevate his game. The NHL and its fans benefitted from the resulting show.

"I think the whole situation around Ovi and Sid was kind of a big time," Ovechkin said, "and even more, not pressure, but even more (you) think about it and get ready for it."

Each has remained remarkably consistent throughout his career. Crosby leads Pittsburgh with 74 points (29 goals, 45 assists) in 67 games this season to clinch his NHL-record 21st consecutive season of averaging a point a game. Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 31 goals, his NHL-record 20th season with at least 30 goals, and 61 points in 79 games.

"It truly is amazing they lived up to the hype, even maybe surpassed it," said former Capitals goalie Olie Kolzig, who was teammates with Ovechkin for his first three NHL seasons. "Obviously, two different players, with their styles, but equally as impactful to the game of hockey in the NHL. But I think they, obviously, had a big hatred for each other when they first started: Canadian versus the Russian and who's the better player? 

"But they developed a mutual respect because they understand how special they are and how special the Penguins-Caps rivalry was over the years." 

There were moments when the rivalry became heated. One scuffle between them during a 5-2 Capitals' win in Washington on Feb. 22, 2009, ended with Crosby losing his helmet and Ovechkin waving him off, later saying, "He's a good player, but he talks too much."

Those feelings softened over the years, though, and they've come to appreciate each other and their similar journeys as the faces of the NHL for more than two decades. These days, they exchange friendly texts, offering congratulations for their various milestones and usually meet up after the games between them for a brief, "Hello." 

After Ovechkin broke the goal record last season, Crosby and Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin, a longtime Ovechkin friend, presented him with Rolex watch as a congratulatory gift.

"We became friends," Ovechkin said. "I think we understand the battle is out there, but off the ice we can talk to each other, congratulate each other on that moment. So, it's pretty good."

That doesn't mean either wants to win any less when they face each other. The Capitals probably need to win both games this weekend to have any chance of making the playoffs and the Penguins, undoubtedly, would take some pleasure in knocking them out.

That the games could me be among Ovechkin's last might overshadow that storyline, though.

"I think like any game where you play Washington, you get up for it," Crosby said. "But with that potential, I think you just try to enjoy it, enjoy the competition. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I think with every year, the chance of that being the case obviously increases." 

NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price contributed to this report