WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals beat Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Wednesday night in the 101st career meeting between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, a milestone clash where neither superstar recorded a point and both were kept to the margins.
Crosby finished minus-4 with two shots on net, while Ovechkin also managed two shots and logged just 14:05 of ice time — the seventh fewest minutes on his team. The quiet night was a far cry from their twin hat-tricks in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Final, and underlined how Father Time remains undefeated.
Ovechkin, 41, is the third-oldest player in the NHL and has already announced this will be his final season, while Crosby, 39, is the fifth-oldest and told The Hockey News in September he is letting his "mind and body" tell him when to hang up his skates. Both led their respective teams in scoring last season — with Crosby also leading the Penguins to the playoffs — but one week into the new campaign Crosby has just two assists in four games and Ovechkin has one assist in three games, both still searching for a first goal. "How many goals did he have last year?" Crosby said of Ovechkin. "He knows how to score goals. You don't lose that. Maybe as you get older you have to adjust a little bit, but his shot is his shot. That's not going anywhere."
Washington have already shifted the balance of their attack. Ovechkin is no longer the Capitals' No. 1 scoring option, with the top line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson and Alex Tuch having combined for five goals and 11 points in three games, and even on the power play his days of staying out for the full two minutes appear over. "I'm not going to say that he doesn't want to be out there and he's like, 'Yay, thanks, 'Carbs' for calling me off,'" Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters. "That's not how it is. But he also is understanding of what we're trying to accomplish as a team and the great players that he has around him. So, anytime that I talk about 'Here's why we're doing it, and here's the reason behind it, and here's why this is going to help our team.' He's like, 'I’m all in. I'll come off. Tell me when.'"
Pittsburgh do not have the same depth to dial back Crosby's minutes under coach Dan Muse, but young players are pushing for greater responsibility, with Ben Kindel posting two goals and four points, Nick Robertson scoring three goals and Hendrix Lapierre adding one goal and three points. With Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson all on expiring contracts and Kris Letang's current deal expiring in 2028, a passing of the torch is approaching in Pittsburgh in what is looking like the last season of consequence for two of the game's great superstars.