The crowd chanted “MVP.” There was no doubt who dominated the night. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin dueled once more at Verizon Center on Monday. It’s becoming commonplace to watch the Penguins and Capitals pound away at each other with malice. But the Stanley Cup playoffs mean added intensity and the two superstars shined like superstars before a national audience.
Ovechkin’s hat trick outperformed Crosby’s in the Caps’ 4-3 victory for a 2-0 lead in the second-round series. The tandem owned the ice. The NHL prays the young pair can be the league’s Ali-Frazier or at least LeBron-Kobe, and on this night they were.
Crosby converted a loose puck on the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead just 6:38 into the game and nearly scored again on the same shot during a 5-on-3 Pittsburgh advantage.
Ovechkin tied the game just 2:18 into the second period. Another slammer a few feet from the goal. But Crosby countered nearly nine minutes later with two short jabs to slip past Caps goalie Simeon Varlamov.
Surprisingly, someone else grabbed the spotlight with Caps center David Steckel tying the game, 2-2, with 4:11 left in the second period.
Someone else interjecting himself into the game? Why, it was bad enough Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn hammed it up during the kissing cam contest and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh gained a surprisingly loud ovation when spotted in the stands. But nobody was stealing this game from Crosby and Ovechkin, not even Varlamov, who followed Saturday’s YouTube megahit (when he stopped a goal with stickwork resembling a matador’s sword) by staring down more shots than a bartender on New Year’s Eve.
A Caps crowd that had seen the recent elimination of the New York Rangers and 3-2 victory over the Pens on Saturday was now feverish. Who needs to unleash the fury on the jumbotron when it filled the stands? It would soon sound like the second coming of Cole Field House.
Just as Washington survived a power play, Pittsburgh made a fatal mistake when center Evgeni Malkin was called for tripping. The Caps won the ensuing faceoff with Mike Green sending it to Ovechkin for a 3-2 lead with 7:07 left. Ovechkin later filled the ice with hats with his third goal.
Now who’s the headliner? The show moves on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or
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