The buzz has been building for this one for days.
Sure, it's only a regular season game, but the first showdown of the year between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals tonight at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (7:30 PM EST, FSN, NHL NETWORK) is the game everyone is talking about.
And why not?
These two clubs are among the cream of the crop in the National Hockey League, and led by two of the league's brightest stars in Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.
And because it's the first matchup of the season between these two teams, it harkens back vivid memories of the architectural beauty the clubs displayed in last season's 7-game Eastern Conference Seminfinal, won by our Boys of Winter 4 games to 3 after a 6-2 pasting of the Capitals in their own barn in game 7.
Much of the focus tonight will be on #87 and #8. Naturally, both stars have sufficiently ramped up their game in advance of facing off against each other tonight.
Ovechkin scored 5 points in his last game.
Crosby scored 6.
Overall, the Penguins have fared very well against Washington in the Crosby/Ovechkin era, winning 15 of 22 regular season and playoff games dating back to 2005.
Crosby also has outscored Ovechkin in those games. While both players have tallied 16 goals, Crosby has 23 assists -- 7 more than Ovie.
This year, Ovehckin sits second in the NHL scoring race with 30 goals and 65 points.
Crosby is right behind him in 4th and actually has scored more goals than the league's 2-time defending Rocket Richard winner.
Crosby has tickled the twine 32 times this season thusfar.
Both teams are getting into a groove of late coming into this one, too.
Washington has won 4 in a row; Pittsburgh 4 of 6.
On the ice, Pittsburgh has a number of lineup questions going into tonight.
Forwards Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot both didn't finish the Penguins' last game against the New York Islanders and are day-to-day.
Dupuis acutally has a chance of playing tonight, said Pittsburgh Head Coach Dan Bylsma yesterday, depending on whether the swelling above his left eye goes down sufficiently.
I'll tell you -- seeing Dupuis actually in the lineup tonight would be a pleasant surprise considering the ride into the boards he took from behind by Islanders' defenseman Andy Sutton.
Sutton was suspended 2 games by the NHL yesterday for that hit, by the way.
The Pens' also have a concern on the blueline, as Sergei Gonchar was not able to finish practice yesterday.
Gonchar remains troubled by a foot injury he sustained blocking a shot against New Jersey about 3 weeks ago. Gonchar missed 4 games as a result of that injury before returning, but it's clearly troubling him.
Gonchar is questionable for tonight, but I think he'll play.
The Penguins have not made any call-ups from Wilkes-Barre, so unless they do that today, they expect to have enough healthy bodies for a full lineup.
Pens' backup netminder Brent Johnson is expected to start in goal tonight for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury is waiting on a specially made glove to arrive that would better protect the broken ring finger he sustained last week in Edmonton during the Penguins' road trip.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure who we'll see in the Washington net. It could be young goaltender Michael Neuvirth. Jose Theodore played on Tuesday night in the Caps' 3-2 win over the Red Wings and supposedly played well, but Washington Coach Bruce Boudreau might give Neuvirth a chance to show off his skills tonight and see how he fares. .
Of course, Semyon Varlamov, who the Penguins saw in their playoff series last year, also has had an excellent season, but his game has been derailed by several injuries the last month or so, and he isn't ready to return to action yet.
Here are a few pieces of interest about this game. NHL.com, in particular, is all over it:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514319
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514352
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514344
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4843787&name=lebrun_pierre
I can't wait for the drop of the puck tonight.
Neither can anyone else.
Recap tomorrow.
Let's Go Pens!
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