Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are entering the 20th season of their legendary careers with the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively. The two greats have had one of the most compelling rivalries in sports since the 2005-06 NHL season—the NHL’s first after a lockout canceled the 2004-05 campaign.
“We saved the NHL,” Ovechkin said in 2023.
Two decades later, both players serve as their team’s captain and are leaned on to create a lot of offense. Their longevity and success put them both on the precipice of significant hockey history.
Crosby is just four points shy of 1,600 in his career and 45 points away from tying Joe Sakic for ninth on the NHL’s all-time points list. Meanwhile, Ovechkin is chasing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goals record. The Great Eight sits just 42 goals shy of eclipsing The Great One’s mark of 894.
Crosby, 37, recently reflected on the two’s history while at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas.
“It’s really cool,” Crosby told Pittsburgh’s Michelle Crechiolo. “To be able to play in the same division, to have had the history that we have over the years… to come in at the same time with pretty high expectations and to see him this close to what was thought to be an untouchable record, it’s incredible what he’s doing.
“I feel grateful to be part of that. As a player, you want to compete at the highest level. To be in that conversation with him over the years, I hope that we’ve gotten the best out of each other, and hopefully we’ve got some strong years left here.”
Crosby is one of many to comment on Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky over the offseason, which Crosby has previously stated he hopes Ovechkin completes. Few players, excluding Capitals teammates, have been as close to Ovechkin’s chase as Crosby because the two stars and their teams have closely duked it out season after season.
The Capitals and Penguins were separated by just three standings points last season, and the two captains finished the campaign having played their 69th game against one another. The season series was split right down the middle, 2-2, with Crosby posting four points (3g, 1a) in those games and Ovechkin matching with four points (3g, 1a) of his own.
Crosby had one of his most productive seasons in years, recording 94 points (42g, 52a) in 82 games. Ovechkin started slow but finished on fire, with 23 goals in his final 36 appearances, giving him an NHL record eighteen 30-goal seasons and reigniting talks of Gretzky’s record eventually falling.
Per the NHL, Crosby and Ovechkin can become the first pair of active NHL players to rank among the top 10 on the league’s all-time points list since 2007-08 when Sakic and Jaromir Jagr ranked eighth and ninth, respectively. Crosby is already in the top 10, while Ovechkin is just 46 points away.
The two superstars have formed a friendship in the twilight of their careers. Ovechkin most recently commented on the relationship after he and his young son Sergei shared the ice with Crosby during a Breakaway Challenge attempt at the 2023 All-Star Game.
“He still enjoy play hockey, I’m still enjoying playing hockey,” Ovechkin said then. “I’m pretty sure when me and him is going to be retired, we’re going to have a couple of beers together and talk about the whole thing that happened in the past 15, 16 years.
“We’re good friends,” Ovechkin continued. “We can call to each other. If he has some milestones coming up and he reach it – I call him, shoot him a text. First couple years we kind of was different relationship. We was young. But, now we’ve matured.”
While the two may share a unique bond now, the Capitals and Penguins will soon rekindle hostilities. They’ll meet four times total next season. The first matchup will come on November 8 in DC, and the two sides will complete their respective 2024-25 schedules against one another on April 17.
Future battles between Ovechkin and Crosby are numbered, so we should enjoy them while we can. Ovechkin is only signed to a contract for the next two seasons, while Crosby is signed for just one. The Penguins superstar is “optimistic” about inking an extension with Pittsburgh. However, Ovechkin has said he will probably be done in the NHL once his current deal expires.
