Caps crush Penguins to gain ground in NHL East

In addition to being rivals on the ice, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby flat out just don’t like each other.  Ovechkin got the best of his foil on Sunday as he scored a goal along with an assist as his Capitals routed the Penguins 5-2 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.  The Pens victory coupled with a Boston Bruins loss pulled Pittsburgh to within 7 points of the Eastern Conference lead.

Ovechkin opened the scoring with his 43^rd goal of the season, as the Caps opened up a 2-1 lead after the first period.  They would add three more goals in the second which left the outcome of the game a foregone conclusion heading into the third period.  After the game, Ovechkin had a very dismissive comment about the Pens superstar Crosby:

"What I can say about him? He is a good player, but he talks too much."

Crosby, meanwhile, responded thusly when asked about the flamboyant Ovechkin:

"Like it or lump it, that's what he does. Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it."

For his part, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau thinks the Crosby/Ovechkin feud works to his advantage:

"I think he got frustrated because he wasn't getting the freedom he's had in this building before. It adds spice. It's entertainment. It gets your blood boiling a bit. And every time Alex gets a little more excitable, it can be good for us."

At the moment, Pittsburgh is on the outside looking in at the postseason as the NHL schedule winds down.  They’re definitely not out of it with the middle of the pack logjam that exists in the Eastern Conference—only 5 points separate fifth place Montreal from the 10^th place Penguins—but Pittsburgh has struggled this season and things aren’t looking brighter despite the firing of head coach Michel Therrien last week.  In particular, their defense and goaltending has been very sketch—netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has allowed 23 goals in his last five starts.