Crosby, Ovechkin could spice up NHL playoffs

Sure, all the Canadian teams have been eliminated from contention, but there's still plenty of intrigue left for the NHL post-season.

In the East, you can't count out the defending conference champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, nor the New York Rangers because of their successive trips to the conference final.

But as we move closer to the Stanley Cup playoffs, the story in the Eastern Conference appears to be shaping up like a battle between the Alex Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals and the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins.

A player-versus-player rivalry is a difficult sell in hockey because it's such a team game. But Ovechkin and Crosby always will be tethered because they were first overall selections in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and entered the NHL simultaneously 11 seasons ago, after the season-long lockout.

The rivalry has cooled somewhat over the past few years. The Penguins and Capitals haven't met in the post-season since their memorable second-round, seven-game showdown in 2009 that was won by Pittsburgh en route to its Stanley Cup championship. Canada and Russia didn't even meet in the Olympic men's hockey tournament in Sochi two years ago.

The Capitals haven't advanced past the second round in Ovechkin's career. The Penguins have only three series victories since they won the 2008-09 Stanley Cup.

Crosby has eased his championship pain with two Olympic gold medals with Canada in 2010 and 2014 and a world championship last spring. Ovechkin has celebrated world titles with Russia in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

Playoff clash looms

But here are Ovechkin and Crosby, the Capitals and Penguins, late in the 2015-16 regular season, looking like they are destined to clash in the playoffs, possibly as early as the second round. There always is the chance of a first-round upset, but there is no denying how well the Capitals and Penguins have played down the stretch.

Here are the best records in the East since Jan. 1, 2016:

• Capitals: 26-9-3 — 54 points
• Penguins: 25-10-4 — 54 points
• Lightning: 26-11-1 — 53 points
• Flyers: 23-11-6 — 52 points
• Rangers: 22-11-5 — 49 points

Under head coach Barry Trotz, the Presidents' Trophy-clinching Capitals have been solid all season long. There was the 8-2-0 bolt from the starting blocks and the 10-game win streak in December.

The Penguins have been a different story. Crosby struggled early with only six goals in the first 32 games, and as a result so did the rest of his club. The off-season additions of Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino made little impact. Popular forward Pascal Dupuis was forced into retirement because of a blood-clot condition.

General manager Jim Rutherford replaced coach Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan after a 15-10-3 start and made fruitful acquisitions in defenceman Trevor Daley and Carl Hagelin. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been sound and defenceman Kris Letang has been scary good.

The Penguins haven't even missed a beat since Evgeni Malkin was knocked out of action with an upper-body ailment on Mar. 11.

How Sid got his groove back

The biggest development was Crosby finding his groove again. He has ascended all the way to third in the Art Ross Trophy scoring race and has been mentioned as a contender for the Hart Trophy.

How has Crosby returned to playing like, well, Sidney Crosby? Those around the team remarked that Crosby was pretty good early on, but his linemates weren't converting, the transition game from d-men to forwards was sloppy and the power play was dreadful.

Those areas took a drastically step forward when Sullivan took over and Rutherford made his alterations with Hagelin and Daley.

Now the 28-year-old Crosby will enter the playoffs on a roll, determined that if this is Mario Lemieux's final season as part owner of the Penguins, the Magnificent One will have something to smile about.

It will be interesting to see if there will be another chapter written in the Crosby vs. Ovechkin saga.