One of the best rivalries in the modern NHL came together on Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins squared off, pitting Sidney Crosby against Alex Ovechkin. And it didn’t take long for a beef to develop between the two top players.
Tom Wilson and Jamie Oleksiak dropped gloves in the first minute of the game. Ovechkin started talking with a Penguins player, so Crosby told Ovi to go fight the player. In response, Ovechkin told Crosby “why don’t you fight me?”
Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin continuing the rivalry with some exchanges from the bench pic.twitter.com/A8n19v5loy
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 20, 2018
The two did not fight, though Ovechkin threw down with Kris Letang not long thereafter.
After the game, Crosby said Ovechkin should have received an instigator penalty for yelling at him.
Penguins' Sidney Crosby on jawing with Capitals' Alex Ovechkin: "I'm just trying to find out why it wasn't an instigator and he started yelling at me for some reason. My conversation was with the official, not with him, so I don't know why he felt the need to come over."
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) December 20, 2018
Crosby’s Penguins got the best end of things with a 2-1 victory. Crosby scored and assisted while Ovechkin did not contribute any points in the loss.
