Alex Ovechkin reflects on rivalry with Sidney Crosby ahead of potential last matchup: ‘It’s history, what we have for 20 years’
ARLINGTON, VA — Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have defined an era of hockey.
The pair entered the NHL in 2005 with lofty expectations, tasked not only with saving their respective franchises but also with revitalizing the league after a full-season lockout. If anything, they’ve only outperformed the hype.
Over the last 21 seasons, Ovechkin and Crosby have risen to become the faces of the sport, and their rivalry has become the stuff of legends, each tied inexorably to the other’s legacy. It’s poetic, then, that when Ovechkin plays what could be his final home game at Capital One Arena on Sunday, Crosby will be there on the other side of the ice.
The pair will face off this weekend in back-to-back games, marking the 100th and 101st times they’ve gone head-to-head (including playoffs). With Ovechkin still undecided as to whether he will return in the fall, those games could mark the last chapter of their storied competition.
“No one’s got a crystal ball, no one knows what’s happening in the future, but there will never be another rivalry like that,” said Tom Wilson. “There will never be Ovi and Crosby, I don’t think, ever again.
“Just basically two legends coming in at the same time and going toe-to-toe their whole careers, and both having such longevity and both carrying a weight every single season and putting up superstar numbers…I think just that duo has been so good for the game of hockey, and what they’ve done for the game is, I don’t think, ever going to be recreated.”
Ovechkin quipped in 2023 that he and Crosby “saved the NHL” after the 2004-05 lockout, and he’s got a case. Individually, they’ve been among the best to ever play the game: both Ovechkin (1,684 points, 10th all-time) and Crosby (1,761 points, seventh all-time) rank among the NHL’s top 10 all-time scorers, and Ovechkin’s 928 goals stand alone for the league record.
Not only were they the sport’s two top players in their prime, but their proximity saw them compete year after year, meeting more than any other pair of first overall picks in league history. Their contrasting personalities made them obvious foils: the stoic Canadian center and the bombastic Russian winger.
“One, obviously, is crazy personality, one is very professional — and not to say that O’s not (professional), but you know what I mean. He’s a larger than life kind of guy,” noted Wilson.
As much as Crosby has been a thorn in Ovechkin’s side over the years, the rivalry has also pushed Ovechkin to improve, giving him an equal to measure up against.
“It’s history, what we have for 20 years, play against each other,” Ovechkin said. “I think the whole situation around Ovi and Sid was big time. It gave me more, not pressure, but it gave me more think about it and, you know, get ready for it.”
Crosby has similar reverence for his time playing across from Ovechkin.
“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.”
In the latter years of their career, especially since Ovechkin’s 2018 Stanley Cup win, the two have fostered an off-ice friendship, bonding over experiences few others have shared. They teamed up with Ovechkin’s son Sergei at the 2023 All Star Game’s Breakaway Challenge, and Crosby had nothing but praise for his rival during his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, later gifting him a Rolex alongside teammate Evgeni Malkin after goal no. 895.
“We became friends,” Ovechkin said. “We understand, battle is out there, but off the ice, we can text each other ‘Congrats’ together, on that moment. So, yeah, it’s been cool.”
None of that means the on-ice rivalry has cooled down.
“It’s still the same, since the first game when we played against each other,” Ovechkin said. “Fans in, (reporters are) in, and obviously we take that energy and put it on the ice.”
Neither player has hoisted the Stanley Cup without going through the other first. They’ve faced off four times in the playoffs — the Penguins won in 2009, 2016, and 2017 before the Capitals exorcised the demons in 2018 — and each time, the series victor has gone on to win it all.
Spencer Carbery recounted following the pair with rapt attention many years before he became Ovechkin’s coach.
“I just remember how competitive and how great (they were), of two young players coming in at basically the same time,” he said. “And these generational guys that don’t come around every single year. It’s a rarity. But they came in at the same time. And then they’re on these two teams that now have this bitter rivalry that played out, it seemed like, every single spring.
“So I remember watching those series. It was just extremely entertaining, to be able to watch those two guys go head-to-head and WASH play PIT. [Pittsburgh] kind of had the upper hand for a while, and then [Washington] came back, so it was always must-watch TV.”
Asked for his favorite memory of the Ovechkin-Crosby rivalry, Strome pointed to May 4, 2009, when both players scored a hat trick in Game 2 of their second-round series. Strome, just 12 at the time, still knows where he was that night.
“I remember the dueling hat tricks,” Strome said. “Remember that series being like a crazy series. I just remember sitting in my basement watching it, and they got both hat tricks. I thought that was awesome.”
Strome is far from the only player with childhood memories of watching the pair. Asked if he’d paid attention to Ovechkin’s career as a child, Ilya Protas almost scoffed.
“Oh yeah, yeah,” he said, as if the answer was obvious. “He was like my top player to watch as a player, as a leader.”
Protas recalled that one of his friends at the time was a big Penguins fan, and while Protas didn’t have an affinity to any single team, he was firmly on Ovechkin’s side of the rivalry. On Saturday, he’ll play his second-ever NHL game with both Ovechkin and Crosby on the ice.
“Obviously I know how big that rivalry (is), and I’m really excited for tomorrow’s game,” Protas said.
With the exception of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, Ovechkin and Crosby are the longest-tenured players in the NHL: every other active player has only ever known the league with them in it, and Ovechkin’s retirement will leave a void where he once stood.
Even Crosby struggled to imagine the sport without Ovechkin.
“Oh man,” he told Yoke. “Yeah, it would be so weird if he’s not around anymore. It would be weird, especially because we’ve (almost) always been in the same division. We see each other so often. We came into the league together. So, really, it’s all we’ve ever known. There have been changes. You play with a lot of different guys over the course of 20 years. But for me, seeing him a few times a year, and seeing him in the playoffs, has always been a constant.”
As Ovechkin’s potential retirement looms on the horizon, Crosby is grateful for the chance to give his longtime rival a proper farewell.
“If this is it for him, if that’s the way it works out, I think it’s pretty cool that the schedule worked out the way it did,” he said.
