The 100th all-time meeting, regular season and playoffs combined, between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby will happen after all.
After being held out of Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby is a go for the two teams’ return matchup at Capital One Arena on Sunday. The Penguins captain was not one of the five players that Pittsburgh ruled out due to injury ahead of the afternoon puck drop.
According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Penguins head coach Dan Muse also told reporters that the players who were out day-to-day yesterday are back in today. That means, alongside Crosby, other key players who missed Saturday’s game, including Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, will also play.
The veteran stars will dress despite the Penguins already clinching a playoff spot and second place in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh can’t move up any further in the standings as the Carolina Hurricanes are 12 points ahead of them, making the final two games of their regular season purposeless.
With Crosby and co. back in, the stage is set for what could be Ovechkin’s final Capitals home game in a final matchup against the Penguins — his biggest rivals. The Caps captain is undecided as to whether he will return in the fall for another season, saying earlier this week that he will make that decision in the summer.
Both Ovechkin and Crosby spoke about their reverence for one another ahead of this two-game mini-series, each commenting on how they’ve become friends as the ferocity of their rivalry has cooled with age.
“I feel very fortunate that I’ve gotten to be in the same division against the greatest goal scorer of all time,” Crosby told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe. “It’s been an honor.”
The Capitals won the first of the two weekend meetings, 6-3, keeping their fleeting playoff hopes alive. To do so again, they’ll need to pick up another two points in what could be the finale of one of the greatest rivalries not only in hockey, but all of sports.
Puck drop for the matchup is set for 3 pm inside Capital One Arena.
