Sid and Ovi through the years: A look at the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry as its final acts loom

PITTSBURGH (AP) — It might be a stretch to say that the rivalry between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin saved the NHL. There is no doubt their arrival ushered in a new era for a league desperately in need of a jolt after losing the 2004-05 season to a lockout. Separated by a year in the NHL draft and by far more than that in temperament — Ovechkin all fire and fury, Crosby all calculated cool — they have spent the last two decades defining their franchises and redefining their sport in the process.

They are the rarest breed of stars: the select class who entered with massive expectations and somehow surpassed them all. Five combined Hart Trophies, four Stanley Cup championships, over 3,400 points and countless memories later, their legacies are secure. Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer and Crosby, the only player ever to average a point a game for 21 straight years (and counting), will meet twice more this weekend when the Capitals and Penguins wrap up the final weekend of the regular season with a home-and-home series.

Whether the 100th and 101st all-time meeting between the two icons will also be the last is anyone's guess. While the 38-year-old Crosby — whose Pittsburgh Penguins are heading toward a somewhat surprising playoff berth — is signed through next year and shows no signs of slowing down, the 40-year-old Ovechkin has been more coy about his future beyond the end of a forgettable season for the Washington Capitals . Maybe this is it.

If it's not, it's close. So before the rivalry enters its “remember when” phase, here is a look back at some of the highs (and, in one case, the lows) of two players who placed a league wounded by infighting on their respective backs and carried it into the 21st century: Nov. 22, 2005 Score: Penguins 5, Capitals 4 Where: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh Points: Crosby 1 goal, 1 assist; Ovechkin 1 assist.