No Laich, No Malkin, No Problem...

The Caps are statistically the best team in the entire league, The Penguins are not far off. These are arguably the two best teams in the league, actually no need for any reservations here, these ARE the two best teams in the league. The last time these two teams met The Pens jumped out to 4-1 lead, only to be countered with 4 unanswered goals from Washington in the 3rd and overtime periods.

If the rivalry between the two teams was not already the biggest in the league, games like the aforementioned Super Bowl Sunday overtime thriller have only helped to add to its intensity. As a fan of hockey, I love watching these two teams face off. Aside from the Olympics, it is the best hockey I watch all year. I would love for nothing more than for a scenario to arise where the Caps and Pens could play in the Stanley Cup Finals. Geography being what it is, that will never happen, I would settle for a conference final between the two teams. However, there is no guarantee they will meet up beyond the regular season. That is why I do not take days like today for granted.

Despite both team missing key components of their lineups, I still think tonight will be a great game. It would not matter if the entire Hershey Bears and Wilkes-barre Scranton Penguins were called up to play in tonight's game, so long as Ovechkin and Crosby were playing with them. Undoubtedly, there are other great players on both teams, but perhaps the one thing that truly fuels this rivalry is the OV-Sid dynamic. They are both tremendous players, who are both partially responsible for reviving a dying sport.
Ovechkin embodies Thomas Hobbes thoughts on human nature in the Leviathan, he is nasty, brutish, and in a constant state of war. He is both fearless and reckless, and while in normal societal circles this type of behavior is frowned upon, in the NHL its welcomed with open arms. Crosby, the less flamboyant and reserved of the two, is a smooth skating playmaker who lacks the aggression of Ovechkin, but certainly not the killer instinct. It's hard to not be intrigued anytime they share the same sheet of ice.
Game on.