CRANBERRY, Pa. — Alex Ovechkin’s decision to make his 22nd NHL season his last landed hard in Pittsburgh on Monday, where Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin paused their own game-day routines to salute the Washington Capitals captain.
The Penguins were preparing to host the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night when Crosby learned of Ovechkin’s announcement after the morning skate. Crosby, 39, then spoke exclusively about the longtime rival, while Malkin, 40, broke his usual policy of not meeting reporters after a morning skate.
“We’ve had a lot of great battles,” Crosby said. “At this point in your career, those are decisions you have to make. The important thing is that he’s happy and still enjoying playing.”
Malkin said Ovechkin has left little left to prove, calling the 41-year-old a legend whose impact reaches well beyond Washington. He hoped his fellow Russian stays healthy, keeps scoring and enjoys the final lap.
Quick facts
- Ovechkin has announced that his 22nd NHL campaign will be his final season.
- His 929 goals are the most in NHL history, including 44 against Pittsburgh.
- Ovechkin owns 1,688 career points, second among active players behind Crosby’s 1,763.
- The Capitals and Penguins meet Wednesday in Washington, then play three more times: Jan. 18, March 13 and April 4.
- Pittsburgh won three playoff series against Washington in the Crosby-Ovechkin era; Washington won the fourth, and every series winner went on to claim the Stanley Cup.
The Ovechkin-Crosby story began before either player took an NHL shift. Washington selected Ovechkin first overall in the 2004 NHL Draft. Pittsburgh followed a year later by taking Crosby first in 2005, with Malkin chosen second overall immediately after him.
Crosby and Ovechkin arrived together in 2005-06, when the League returned from the season-long lockout. Crosby was 18 and Ovechkin was 20, two young stars placed at the center of the NHL’s rebuild and its marketing push.
Crosby said he felt the responsibility at the time, even if it was difficult to fully grasp as a teenager. He recalled being asked to handle major promotional obligations before he had established himself on NHL ice, a pressure he says became clearer in retrospect.
Both delivered immediately. Ovechkin captured the Calder Trophy after putting up 52 goals and 106 points in 81 games. Crosby finished runner-up with 39 goals and 102 points in the same number of games.
Malkin arrived the following season and won the Calder himself, posting 33 goals and 85 points in 78 games. He remembered draft night as both joyous and nerve-racking, certain Ovechkin would go first but unsure whether he would hold onto the No. 2 spot.
“After Ovi was officially first, I started worrying that I might go third or fourth,” Malkin said. “My hands were shaking a little bit. But it was a special night, with a lot of good memories.”
Rivalry built through spring hockey
Their individual comparison became inseparable from the Penguins-Capitals rivalry. Ovechkin has met Crosby and Malkin in four Stanley Cup Playoff series, with Pittsburgh advancing in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before Washington broke through in 2018.
Each of those four clubs eventually won the Cup. That run of postseason collisions made it difficult for the two faces of the rivalry to become close early in their careers, Crosby said, but respect and friendship grew as the years passed.
“We were matched up against each other before we even played,” Crosby said. “With the competitiveness and the playoff history, it probably wasn’t easy to be close at first. Over time, though, you develop a friendship and a lot of respect.”
Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin have defined a generation in their home hockey nations: Ovechkin in Russia, Crosby in Canada and Malkin alongside Ovechkin as another Russian standard-bearer.
Between them, they have collected six Hart Trophies, five Art Ross Trophies, 11 Rocket Richard Trophies, seven Ted Lindsay Awards and four Conn Smythe Trophies. Ovechkin has won the Hart three times and the Rocket Richard nine times; Crosby owns two Harts and two scoring titles; Malkin has one Hart and two Art Ross trophies.
New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who played alongside Ovechkin in Washington from 2008 through 2011, called him the greatest goal scorer ever and said hockey would not look the same without his two-plus decades in the League.
Varlamov also pointed to Ovechkin’s standing with Russian national teams and throughout the game, describing him as a big-hearted person respected across the hockey world.
The next chapter comes Wednesday at Capital One Arena, where Pittsburgh visits Washington at 7:30 p.m. ET. The teams will meet again Jan. 18 and March 13 in Pittsburgh, then return to Washington on April 4.
Malkin said every Crosby-Ovechkin matchup has carried extra weight since he entered the League in 2006-07. With Ovechkin’s finish line now set, the remaining games offer a few more chances for the rivals and friends to share the ice — and perhaps a few more photographs.
“When he retires, it will be sad for everyone,” Malkin said. “But he’s a legend. It’s always fun to play Washington and play against him. He’s a good friend, and I hope he enjoys this season.”
