{"id":163515,"date":"2026-04-12T00:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T00:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/163515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T00:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T00:30:10","slug":"alex-ovechkin-appreciates-standing-ovation-during-possible-final-game-in-pittsburgh-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/163515\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Ovechkin appreciates standing ovation during possible final game in Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 The 100th career matchup between generational stars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin never materialized during the Washington Capitals 6-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t stop the crowd from showing its appreciation for Ovechkin in what could be his final game in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The Penguins opted to sit Crosby and several other regulars after securing a playoff berth for the first time since the 2021-22 season and home ice advantage throughout the first round.<\/p>\n

During a television timeout in the second period, the Penguins showed a video tribute honoring Ovechkin and his longstanding rivalry with Crosby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice,\u201d Ovechkin said. \u201cIt was a show of respect for all the time we spent in the rivalry \u2026 playoffs, regular season \u2026 it shows respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ovechkin received a standing ovation from the crowd in Pittsburgh, as the Capitals\u2019 captain stood up from the bench and waved while players tapped their sticks on the ice in appreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could feel in that moment what (Ovechkin) has meant to the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 fans and this city, that even though they hate the Washington Capitals, they appreciate what has gone on over the last 21 seasons,\u201d Capitals\u2019 coach Spencer Carbery said. \u201cYou can tell there\u2019s a genuine appreciation from the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Washington<\/p>\n

Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin (8) sits on the bench with Tom Wilson (43) after scoring on a empty-net during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, April 11, 2026. Credit: AP\/Gene J. Puskar<\/p>\n

Ovechkin is the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer, while Crosby is the only player in league history to average a point per game for 21 straight seasons.<\/p>\n

While the 38-year-old Crosby is signed through next year, the 40-year-old Ovechkin said he\u2019s waiting until after the season to decide whether he\u2019s calling it a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care who\u2019s playing, we just have to get two points,\u201d Ovechkin said. \u201cWe\u2019re still in it and that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby and the Penguins are 56-39-4 through the first 99 head-to-head matchups against Ovechkin. It\u2019s unclear if No. 100 will come on Sunday afternoon when the teams face each other for the final time in the regular season.<\/p>\n

\"Washington<\/p>\n

Washington Capitals’ Ilya Protas (62) celebrates with Alex Ovechkin (8) after scoring his first NHL goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, April 11, 2026. Credit: AP\/Gene J. Puskar<\/p>\n

The two have combined for five Hart Trophies, four Stanley Cup championships and more than 3,400 points. The winner of their four head-to-head series went on to win the Stanley Cup each time, Crosby in 2009, \u201916 and \u201917, while Ovechkin followed in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re two legends,\u201d Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. \u201cI think it\u2019s awesome to see the Pittsburgh crowd give him that respect. Hopefully he keeps playing, but if not, it\u2019s been a heck of a front-row seat from my perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 The 100th career matchup between generational stars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin never materialized during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4843,73,75,74,1067,17922,5342],"class_list":{"0":"post-163515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-pittsburgh","10":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","11":"tag-pittsburgh-news","12":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","13":"tag-washington-capitals","14":"tag-wires-bot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}