It is hard to believe but the last time that Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin went head to head in the playoffs was seven years ago. That is also the same amount of time that has passed since the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup.
Both players have always been linked to one another ever since their incredible battle for the 2006 Calder Trophy which eventually went to Alexander Ovechkin. The two have always had a high respect for one another as players
One of my fave Crosby-Ovechkin moments. (credit: Michael Farber, SI, October 2006) #Pens #Caps pic.twitter.com/VwyTGr8e4D
— Jen (@NHLhistorygirl) April 25, 2016
Sidney Crosby on Sid vs. Ovi: "It brings out the best in both of us."
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) April 25, 2016
They were also used in advertising from the get go.
Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin lay claim to five of the last ten Hart Trophies. It could have been more. There is a strong argument that both Crosby and Ovechkin had a better case for the Hart Trophy in 2010 over Henrik Sedin and Crosby was a runaway for the award in 2010-11 before his concussion. Needless to say these are the best two players of their generation.
Some things have remained the same since the 2009 playoff matchup. Crosby and Ovechkin are still the best players on their team and are still playing at a high level.
Both teams are among the very best at driving possession heading into the playoffs just like in 2009.
Both teams have come up short in their Stanley Cup aspirations since 2008-09.
Washington is still a top five power play and Ovechkin scored 19 power play goals just like he did in 2008-09.
Both teams have gone through coaching changes and roster overhauls since 2008-09.
The first time these two met in the playoffs it was everything the hockey world could ask for. It went seven games and the two superstars were outstanding.
In seven games Ovechkin had eight goals and 14 points while Crosby had eight goals and 13 points.
The signature moment was when both players scored a hat trick in Washington's Game 2 victory
Things haven't only changed on the personnel front but how we view the game. We have improved in our ways of analyzing the sport of hockey and have come to understand how tough (read that as impossible) it is for one player to carry an NHL team to success. We understand that no matter how great a player is they are susceptible to goal scoring droughts and if they happen at the wrong time IE playoffs it can have a catastrophic consequence if the team structure is lacking. It is fun to hype a Sid vs Ovie matchup but I think at least this time around people understand that they are only two pieces in a a sport that is basically controlled chaos.
Sidney Crosby obviously has had more team success, but that is because he has played on better teams especially on the international level.
Another thing that will be way different this time around is how the defensive matchup against Alexander Ovechkin will look. The player the Penguins used last time is actually a Washington Capital this time around. Brooks Orpik was tasked with Ovechkin duty in the 2008-09 season. In 23:16 during the 2008-09 regular season Ovechkin had at CF/60 of 64.47 and a CA/60 of 49.00 against Orpik. That is a 56.8% advantage.
Who should Pittsburgh use this time around?
Kris Letang is on the ice for what feels like every minute of every game so he has seen his share of Ovechkin this year but it hasn't gone great for #58. Ovechkin had a CF/60 of 56.38 and a CA/60 25.42 for a 68.9% advantage in 33:03 at 5v5 this year. That CA/60 number is quite amazing considering Letang is one of the best shot attempt generators in the sport.
A sample size of 33 minutes isn't exactly a huge time frame to work with but we can extrapolate Ovie's numbers against Letang from the past four years. Those are 76:00 minutes CF/60 of 60.29, CA/60 of 46.19, and a 56.6% advantage for Ovechkin. Ovie has done well.
There is however one Penguin who has done quite well on Ovie this year.
Ovechkin against Dumoulin this season:
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) April 8, 2016
0G - 0A - 8 shot attempts - 42.9 CF%
Brian Dumoulin played 28:39 against Ovechkin this year and Alexander the Great had a CF/60 of 47.61 and a CA/60 of 64.17. A 57.4% advantage for the young defender. Among defenders who played at least 20 minutes against Ovechkin this year only Anton Stralman's 60.3% advantage against Ovechkin was better than Dumoulin.
Letang is definitely going to see time against Ovechkin because he'll play 30 minutes a game but tracking Dumoulin's time versus Ovechkin is worth following because of the success he had in the regular season.
And on the flip side here are Sidney Crosby's numbers against the Capitals defenders in 2015-16
Again, not the largest of sample sizes but it is clear that the Capitals liked matching Alzner and Niskanen up against Crosby and it went well for the Capitals. Brooks Orpik had some surprisingly good success in his 20 minutes against Sid but it remains to be seen if he can compete in Round 2 after taking a huge hit in the Philadelphia series leaving him concussed.
Last but not least here are the head to head numbers Ovechkin has against Crosby the past four seasons with a grand total of 79:03 ice time.
Ovechkin has a CF/60 of 59.2, a CA/60 of 62.24, and a CF% of 48.8%. A slight advantage to Sidney Crosby.
In his career against Washington Crosby has played 38 games with 19 goals and 55 points.
In 44 games against Pittsburgh Alex Ovechkin has 27 goals and 46 points.
Both have great numbers because both are great players.
There's obviously more to the series than those two players and we'll look at that in the days to come.
Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin in the playoffs has been long overdue. Hopefully it is as good as the first edition.
Thanks for reading!