PITTSBURGH - Much of America will celebrate Feb. 7 as a national holiday. Super Bowl Sunday. I'm looking forward to it for a different reason. Round II, Pittsburgh Penguins-Washington Capitals.
It figures to be even better than the first game between the clubs Thursday night at Mellon Arena. In other words, it should be terrific.
OK, the end result in game one wasn't so pleasing for Pens fans as the Caps rolled to a 6-3 victory. But that was the only disappointing aspect of this cold winter night. The old building throbbed with energy, at least until the Capitals scored two quick third-period goals. The 143rd consecutive sellout crowd came to see the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. It came to see hockey's two brightest stars -- the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin. No one could have possibly gone home feeling cheated despite that final score.
Here's the best part:
The fun created by the two clubs has only just begun.
The two weeks between now and Super Sunday can't go by quickly enough.
Ovechkin got the best of Crosby this time with two goals and an assist. His big night hardly made up for the Penguins taking him and his team out in seven games in the playoffs last spring on their way to the Stanley Cup, but it certainly made for an enjoyable evening. It also meant that Crosby will be among the most eager to count down those 16 days. If there's one thing he hates more than just about anything, it's being outshined by Ovechkin.
That's the way it works in the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry, the NHL's version of Kobe-LeBron or even Larry-Magic.