Crosby vs. Ovechkin: NHL.com writers choose sides in historic rivalry

The rivalry between Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals could see its final chapter this weekend. 

The two icons have been going head-to-head for the past 21 seasons, creating incredible memories and unforgettable highlights that have enthralled hockey fans across the globe. 

Ovechkin is in the final season of his contract and the 40-year-old left wing said this week he will decide this offseason whether he will return to the NHL next season.

With that in mind, it’s possible when they meet in back-to-back games this weekend, the two bitter rivals, who have grown into a mutual admiration society, could be facing off for the final times.

Meeting No. 100, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will come at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, TVAS). Then, they’ll play against each other again at Capital One Arena on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, MNMT, truTV, TNT, SN360, TVAS).

Ovechkin, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, and Crosby, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, have played against each other more than any other No. 1 picks. Gilbert Perreault (1970) and Guy Lafleur (1971) are second with 71 meetings.

Crosby has the edge with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) and the Penguins are 43-27-4 in their 74 regular-season showdowns in comparison to Ovechkin’s 70 points (38 goals, 32 assists) and the Capitals’ 31-33-10 record. Ovechkin has 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) and Crosby has 30 (13 goals, 17 assists) in the 25 playoff games between them, but Pittsburgh won three of the four series, which each went at least six games.

Their legacies are intertwined, their accomplishments unmatched. They will each be a first-ballot inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Though little separates them in the record books, each has a loyal legion of supporters from across hockey.

In celebration of the historic weekend, we asked a sampling of NHL.com staffers for their personal preference between the players and why. Here are the answers:

Sidney Crosby

Look, each is a favorite of mine in his own way. But forced to pick between Crosby and Ovechkin, I admit I have a soft spot for Crosby because of what he has gone through. He has played 1,419 NHL games, 151 fewer than Ovechkin, even though they entered the League together in 2005-06. Ovechkin has avoided major injuries, mostly. His durability is part of his legend, especially considering the physicality in his game. But he’s been lucky in a way Crosby hasn’t. Crosby missed a chunk of his prime. In his darkest days, you worried he’d never play again, let alone be the same player. He came back and continued to play at an elite level for years. You wonder how much bigger his numbers would be or how many more trophies he’d have. At the same time, you appreciate everything he has done even more. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist

It's been a treat watching Crosby at the center of this generation's best NHL rivalry, Penguins vs. Flyers. From the night an 18-year-old Crosby lost a few teeth after catching a stick in the mouth, received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for complaining about a non-call, and responded with his first NHL overtime goal, Crosby has made it his mission to beat the Flyers at almost every instance. He has more goals (60) and points (139) against them than any player ever and has more goals (29) and points (62) in Philadelphia than any opposing player. He's scored a goal against the Flyers in every building the teams have played in since 2005-06, indoors and outside at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. And with a fifth Stanley Cup Playoff series between the teams a possibility, maybe we'll get a repeat of his famed declaration from their 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, when he said, "I don't like any guy on their team." -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor

The thing that impresses me about Crosby, especially as he creeps closer to age 40, is that there hasn’t been any drop off in his game. He’s still a consistent producer, still the Penguins’ top offensive threat. The 38-year-old leads the Penguins with 72 points (29 goals, 43 assists) in 66 games this season. Look through past seasons, and you’d have to go back to 2019-20 when Crosby didn’t lead the Penguins (Evgeni Malkin did that season). And don’t think Crosby wouldn’t have had more if he hadn’t missed 11 games with a lower-body injury sustained in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Just tremendously consistent. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Crosby is the perfect hockey player. He skates well. He scores. He dishes. He creates. He backchecks. He wins puck battles and pursuits. He’s shifty and crafty and physical all at once. Best backhand. Best around the net. Best leader. Every shift is important to him. He yearns to win every inch of the ice every single time he’s on the ice. He makes every player who plays with him better. It’s been the pleasure to be able to marvel at and chronicle the entire Crosby-Ovechkin era. But Crosby’s game from top to bottom is perfect. There is so much substance to his sizzle, which is why of these two legends it has always been Crosby who has pulled me in. He has made me appreciate the finer details of the game, because arguably nobody has ever been better at dominating those finer details. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

Crosby is admired by so many generations of hockey fans and has been such a tremendous influence on so many players in his long and storied career, it’s tough as a Canadian not to go with him. He was introduced in Canada as the next phenom at a young age and despite the weight of enormous, and probably unfair expectations, he has exceeded them. Among his numerous accomplishments, the kid from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia won the Stanley Cup three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and gold for Canada at the Winter Olympics twice. His overtime goal against the United States in the final of the 2010 Winter Olympics is an iconic moment in Canadian sports history. Watching Crosby battle against Ovechkin for the past 21 years has been a delight, knowing there may never be such an intense personal rivalry that has lasted as long in the NHL or sports in general. If this is indeed the last time the two face off against each other, it will be something to cherish. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer 

First off, thanks to these two stars for allowing me to witness one of the great sporting event duels of my career. On May 4 2009, in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals, I had the pleasure of covering this pair of future Hall of Famers each record a hat trick in Washington’s 4-3 win over the Penguins, which Ovechkin referred to afterward as a “sick game.”  Picking a first star in that game was practically impossible, much like it is selecting one of them in this debate. Here’s what nudges Crosby marginally ahead of the Great 8 for me. On Sunday the Penguins captain had three points (one goal, two assists) to extend his NHL record of consecutive seasons averaging at least a point per game to 21, two more than Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky. He's been a sure thing for more than two decades in a League where sure things aren't supposed to happen.  — Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Alex Ovechkin

This is an impossible exercise, given the impact each has made on the NHL and the sport of hockey. But I did want to highlight the impressiveness and sometimes seeming impossibility of years of knowing exactly the spot from which Ovechkin is going to score -- that left face-off circle, or “Ovi’s Office” -- and still not being able to stop him. I guess that’s how you end up with the all-time NHL record in goals scored, at 928 and counting. It doesn’t matter who’s passing him the puck, who’s in opposing net, who’s the coach, it’s just death, taxes and Alex Ovechkin scoring from the face-off circle. It’s the willingness and confidence to shoot from where you’re expected to shoot, the strength and skill and accuracy to beat goalies, and the joy and amazement that results. -- Amalie Benjamin, senior writer

These two have been pitted against each other for 21 seasons when, by now, we really should be celebrating and appreciating how special they’ve been and how, together, they’ve elevated the NHL and the game from the moment they debuted on the same day in 2005.  There’s so much to admire about each player. For this exercise, I picked Ovechkin because of the unbridled joy with which he’s played the game for more than two decades, a joy that’s been contagious to his Capitals teammates, and is being passed down to his sons, Sergei and Ilya. At 40, he’s still the same big kid who celebrates his teammates’ goals with the same enthusiasm he has for his own goals. –- Tom Gulitti, senior writer

I want to preface my selection by saying I truly enjoy watching each player play the game he loves. I'm going Ovechkin, though, because in addition to arguably being the greatest pure goal-scorer the NHL has ever seen, there's never mistaking the “Great 8” when he's on the ice. Whether he's being physical, slamming a one-timer on the power play, sweeping the puck into the net while on his back or just celebrating with a teammate after a goal is scored, he's entertainment personified. The intensity with which he plays this game just jumps off the screen. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer

As many of my colleagues have pointed out, this is an almost impossible assignment. To me, Sidney Crosby is the ultimate winner, the ultimate captain and the ultimate professional. I remember covering the 2016 Stanley Cup Final (my first for NHL.com) and being overly impressed with not only how he played, but how he carried himself off the ice. A true gamer in every sense of the word. But for this exercise, I have to go with Ovechkin. He’s so fun to watch when he’s on the ice, whether he’s delivering a big hit, a big goal or a big smile. I was lucky enough to be in UBS Arena last season when he broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record, and it’s something I will never forget. Think about what he did that day: A whole arena and a national TV audience tuning in to see him score a goal and that’s exactly what he did. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief 

Lots of numbers, lots of records and lots of accomplishments have been thrown around for each player in this exercise. And numbers -- especially numbers never before seen in hockey when it comes to these two -- are an important part of sports. But they’ve never been the driving force of my fandom. For me, it is the humanness with which a player does the inhuman that draws me. Ovechkin is in a class of his own when it comes to that. After all this time, after all the pressure, after all the fame, after all the money and all the responsibility, Ovechkin still treats his time on the ice like the game we all played as a kid. He gets silly, sometimes too silly, when he scores. He celebrates like we all wish we could celebrate when greatness has been achieved (which way to the fountains?) and the smile is omnipresent each time he ties his yellow skate laces. He plays and competes with the joy each of us wishes we could replicate in our lives. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial