Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, left, is checked off his skates by Ron Hainsey of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first period of Game 7 on Wednesday.Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Game 7s define individual careers and organizational narratives and for most of their respective histories, the Pittsburgh Penguins have held a decisive edge over the Washington Capitals.
It's like a Road Runner cartoon, the same scene, repeated over and over. Individually, Sidney Crosby always gets the better of Alex Ovechkin – world junior championships, world championships, Olympics, World Cup and most important of all, in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It was no different on Wednesday night, the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry staying on script when the visiting Penguins earned a 2-0 victory over the Capitals in the seventh and deciding game of the Metropolitan Division championship.
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With the victory, Pittsburgh advances to the Eastern Conference final, where it will play the Ottawa Senators.
Pittsburgh is seeking to become the first team in two decades to win consecutive Stanley Cup championships and the Capitals pushed them right to, what was for them, another bitter end.
It was a tense, nervous, low-risk game that was scoreless until midway through the second period, when the Penguins' Bryan Rust contributed the all-important opening goal. Crosby set up the play with a tap on the stick of Capitals' defenceman Matt Niskanen, which created a turnover at the Washington blue line.
Some would say that was a fitting turning point for a series in which Niskanen and Ovechkin knocked Crosby out of Game 3 of the series with a concussion.
Crosby missed the fourth game of the series, but returned for the next two. In Game 6, Crosby appeared shaken up in a collision when he got tangled up with goaltender Braden Holtby, Capitals' defenceman John Carlson and the end boards.
Between games, there was much discussion about whether Crosby should have been removed from the game by the NHL's concussion spotter. Usually the most even-tempered of stars, Crosby bristled under questioning ahead of Game 7, insisting that all proper medical protocols were followed and that furthermore, he – more than anyone else – knew his body; and how it responded to the heavy hitting characteristic of any NHL game.
Crosby may not have been as sharp in Game 6 as he'd been previously in the playoffs, but he seemed no worse for wear in the deciding match, one in which the Penguins survived an early Washington push, thanks to solid goaltending from the veteran Marc-André Fleury in the Pittsburgh goal.
For last night's game, the Penguins' injured starter, Matt Murray, was healthy enough to dress as the back-up goalie, which suggests he'll be available to play against Ottawa, if required.
But based on how well Fleury is playing, it would appear risky to make a switch.
Early in the third period, Penguins' defenceman Justin Schultz won a puck battle from Ovechkin and chipped it to Patric Hornqvist, who flipped an innocent-looking backhander at the net, which fooled Holtby and gave Pittsburgh a valuable insurance goal.
The Penguins and Senators have met four times previously in the playoffs, Ottawa winning once (in 2007, Crosby's second professional season), with Pittsburgh triumphant in the next three.
The Sens won two out of three from the Penguins in the regular season, but lost a wild one – 8-5 – to Pittsburgh in early December. The Penguins finished 13 points ahead of Ottawa in the regular-season standings and thus earn the home-ice advantage for Round 3.
As for Washington, the two-time President's Trophy winners as the NHL's best regular-season team, it was another early, disappointing playoff exit, thanks to their rival, the Penguins.
Unlike last year, when the Capitals made only minor tweaks at the trading deadline, they went all in to win a championship this spring, by acquiring the most heavily sought-after rental in the market, defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk. The Capitals believed Shattenkirk could come in and quarterback their power play more effectively than their other options – primarily John Carlson, Niskanen or Dmitri Orlov.
Shattenkirk cost them a first-round pick, but the Capitals theorized he would be worth the price if he helped them get to the final. In the end, all Shattenkirk's acquisition produced was one extra playoff game.
Capitals' general manager Brian MacLellan was feeling greater urgency this year because the Capitals' window of opportunity to win with a core group that included Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Holtby is slowly shrinking. This year, for example, two top-six forwards, T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams, are on expiring contracts and will become free agents on July 1.
Largely for financial reasons, the Capitals may need to look internally for replacements. Andre Burakovsky, a 22-year-old Swede, has had two up-and-down seasons breaking into the NHL, but he finished the series playing on the top line and they believe he can play a top-six role. The Capitals' developmental cupboard is getting increasingly bare because of their attempts to land short-term reinforcements over the years, but they believe their 2014 No. 1 pick, Jakub Vrana, who played 21 games for them this year, is ready for prime-time NHL duty.
Some believe the Capitals will need to assess Ovechkin's role going forward, but he has four years remaining on his 13-year, $124-million (U.S.) contract and is a favourite of owner Ted Leonsis. It is hard to imagine any genuine circumstances under which the Capitals would move on from Ovechkin, who has a limited no-trade clause in his contract, which specifies 10 teams that he can't be dealt to.
All that is fodder for a down-the-road conversation.
In the moment, the Capitals are on the outside again, pondering next year thoughts, while the Penguins move on to the third round for the second year in a row. As for the Sid-and-Ovie Show, all you needed to do is look at the calendar to realize it's that time of year.
Reruns already.