RED ALERT: It's the Caps and Pens tonight!

(Image courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

Tonight's a big night for the Caps.  They faceoff against hated Eastern Conference rival Pittsburgh Penguins.  Last time the Caps wrestled with the Pens, the Pens eliminated Washington from the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Of course, all we hear about today Will be Ovechkin v. Crosby, blah, blah, blah.  Not me.  It is about the CAPS and beating the Pens.  Caps are in the middle of an important three game stretch, important from a 'show me what you got' standpoint.  I can certainly say this ---  if the Caps come out and play tonight like they did against Detroit on Tuesday, forget it, just go home.

Dan Steinberg posts on the Ovechkin/Crosby and Caps Pens rivalry.  [LINK]

Of course, the NHL itself would never let a Caps/Pens game go by while not throwing up a story on Ovie and Sid. The Pens coach sums it up well.

Those dominating performances, more than any thing else, are what the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry is about, says Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. It's not about the relationship, or lack thereof, off the ice that the players share. It is not about the war of words in the press. It is not about the occasional one-on-one battles in the heat of passion during the game. Those are all manifestations of a rivalry borne out of talent.

It is, or should be, about what two of the game's most gifted athletes do on the ice and how they seem, by their very presence, to bring out the best in each other, says Bylsma.

Read more at

http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/articles/washington-capitals/red-alert-its-the-caps-and-pens-tonight.html