Crosby and Ovechkin square off in Pittsburgh

Feb 3, 2007, 17:10 GMT

- Two of the NHL's biggest stars will face off this afternoon, as Sidney Crosby and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins welcome Alexander Ovechkin's Washington Capitals to Mellon Arena.

The Penguins have tied a season-high with five straight wins and are coming off Thursday's close decision over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Evgeni Malkin scored the game-winning tally for Pittsburgh in the 6-5 shootout victory.

Malkin's heroics came just hours after the United States District Court dismissed the two complaints filed by the Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League against the young star and the Penguins. Metallurg filed the two suits against the Penguins after Malkin fled Russia this past August to sign with Pittsburgh. The Russian club claimed that they still had a valid contract with the 20-year-old Malkin.

Sergei Gonchar posted two goals and an assist for the Penguins, while Marc- Andre Fleury blocked 40-of-44 shots in goal.

Erik Christensen also scored for Pittsburgh, and Sidney Crosby added three assists. Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer with 82 points on the year, has now notched a point in eight straight contests. The 19-year-old phenom has compiled 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) over that span.

Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Whitney added an assist to extended his point streak to nine games.

The Penguins have won four straight at home and today's test wraps up a three- game stand at the Igloo. Pittsburgh is 14-8-4 overall at home this year.

Pittsburgh has 58 points on the year and is tied with Tampa Bay and Carolina for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

As for the Capitals, they have dropped two straight and seven of their last nine contests. Washington was handed a 6-3 setback at Florida on Thursday, as Jozef Stumpel and Martin Gelinas each had a pair of goals for the Panthers.

Ovechkin, Chris Clark and Dainius Zubrus had the tallies for Washington.

Alexander Semin also had a pair of assists, while Olaf Kolzig surrendered all six goals on 32 shots faced.

Ovechkin has the longest current point streak in the NHL, as he has scored in 13 straight games. He has eight goals and 12 assists during the tear, but is still second in the NHL in points to Crosby with 70.

The Caps will try to salvage a victory in the finale of this three-game road trip. Washington is just 9-13-4 as the visitor this season.

This is just the second meeting of the year between the Caps and Penguins. Pittsburgh won the first matchup in a shootout on December 11 in Washington and has taken five of the last six encounters overall.

© 2007 The Sports Network