Ovechkin and Crosby. Could you have asked for any better theater? Most people believed that it would eventually happen in the conference finals, but in 2009 they had to settle for the conference semis. There was no lack of drama nonetheless. The Capitals had a 1-0 series lead going into game 2 at the Verizon Center. Semyon Varlamov was fresh off of a game where he made probably the best save in a playoff game in maybe a decade and the Caps held on for a 3-2 win. In game two, the offenses came to play...and the two superstars in particular. In a game now dubbed "dueling hat tricks," Ovechkin scored two goals in the 3rd period to give the Caps a 4-2 lead (completing a hat trick). The game was delayed for several minutes as hats rained onto the ice in celebration. Crosby even went to the refs and asked them to make an announcement to the crowd to stop throwing the hats (a pretty bush league, poor sport move if you ask me). Eventually, Crosby scored his 3rd of the game in a pulled goalie situation to pull the Pens back to 4-3, but it was too little too late as the Caps held on to win and take a 2-0 lead. Here is a clip of all 3 of Ovechkin's goals from that game. Pay special attention to 5:10 of the clip as Ovechkin..."sings along" as it were to Rock and Roll Part II. :-)
All was right in Cap Land after game two. Alas, the Penguins figured something out as they took 4 out of the next 5 games to win the series in game 7. Game 7 did not make this list...Pittsburgh won that one 6-2. Nevertheless, for one night, Alex Ovechkin truly "painted the town red" and turned DC into a bona-fide hockey town.
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