Yesterday’s 3-0 win over Crosby and the Pens at Capital One Arena was not only a win that kept the Caps in the hunt for the playoffs, but also just so happened to be the one hundredth time Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby faced each other in an NHL game. Ovechkin took the opening face off against Crosby. Crosby even smiled. It was all so weird. For most of the past twenty years, Caps fans have hated Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Now, as their careers wind down, the impact those games against each other have meant to the people in both cities.
I was at the first Caps home tilt at the old MCI Center back on February 11th, 2006. I took my sister with me. It was snowing that night. We had seats on the glass. The Great Eight scored short-handed (yeah, he used to be on the penalty kill way back when) and Sid had an assist. The Caps lost 6-3. I don’t remember much about the game, except that at one point, I set my beer on the lip of the boards in front of me and bent over to tie my shoe and immediately two players crashed into the boards right in front of us, and dumped beer on my head and shoes. Too bad we didn't have smart phones twenty years ago or I would have gone viral.
It was a bit unsettling to watch Ovechkin receive such appreciation from the fans in Pittsburgh. The announcers kept going on and on Saturday night about how it could be Ovi’s last game there. The Capitals treated it like it was his last game in DC, too! The Penguins even tried to do a handshake line after the game, the way Ovi did with Marc Andre Fluery last year in Minnesota. Alex waved them off, finally tipping his hand in the worse kept secret in the Nation’s Capital. Alex Ovechkin will be back next year in a Capitals sweater.
There has been so much speculation all season about whether or not Alexander Ovechkin will play next year. He will. I think the young kids coming in and the team poised to take the next step in its reboot, Ovi still loves the game and wants to keep playing. He doesn’t seem like he’s ready to walk away. He wants another shot at the Cup. He wants to beat Gretzky’s all time total goals mark of 1016. Ovi needs just ten more to tie.
So, unless he scores eleven goals against the Blue Jackets tomorrow night in Columbus, he’s gonna need another year to break that record. Which means I’m pretty sure that there will be a few more tilts against Sidney Crosby and the Pens in the future. At least for one more year.