Capitals–Penguins rivalry
The Capitals–Penguins rivalry is an ice hockey rivalry between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. Both teams have played in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference since 2013. This rivalry stems from the 11 playoff series that the two teams have met in, which is second most between NHL expansion teams behind the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues. Pittsburgh won in every series except for the 1994 Eastern Conference quarterfinals and 2018 Eastern Conference second round. There is also only a 250-mile drive between the cities of Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, allowing visiting fans of both teams to attend each other's games in fairly large quantities. In addition to the geography and deep playoff history, the emergence of Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as two generational talents has fueled the rivalry. The rivalry reached new heights in the mid and late 2010s, as the teams won three consecutive Stanley Cups between them: in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins defeated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals en route to the championship, while in 2018 the Capitals eliminated the two-time defending champions in the second round on their way to winning their first Stanley Cup. All six Stanley Cup championships combined between Washington and Pittsburgh have required defeating each other in the playoffs.
History
Early years
Starting in the early 1980s, Pittsburgh and Washington had developed some animosity towards each other, but their matchup was never considered one of the top rivalries because they were rarely good at the same time. The two teams had never even made it to the playoffs in the same year until 1989 when the Capitals lost to the Penguins' cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, in the division semifinals and the Penguins lost to the Flyers in the division finals. The next season, the Capitals and Penguins went in opposite directions. The Capitals finished third in the Patrick Division and made it to the Wales Conference finals against the Boston Bruins, while the Penguins did not even make the playoffs.1990s and early 2000s
The 1990–91 season marked the start of the rivalry. Pittsburgh and Washington finished first and third in the Patrick Division, respectively. The Penguins won a tight division semifinal series against the New Jersey Devils in seven games while the Capitals finished off the New York Rangers in six games. In the division finals, the Capitals won game one in Pittsburgh, 4–2. The Penguins went on to win the next three games, starting with a high-scoring 7–6 OT affair in game two, followed by two 3–1 victories in Washington. Pittsburgh would close out the series in game five with a 4–1 victory. They would go on to win the conference finals against Boston and the Stanley Cup Final against the Minnesota North Stars, winning both series in six games.In 1991–92, the Capitals finished second in the division and the entire NHL, and the Penguins finished third. This set up a second consecutive playoff meeting between the two teams. This time, the Capitals took a 3–1 series lead by winning games one and two on their home ice and then followed a game three loss with a 7–2 drubbing of the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Dino Ciccarelli scored four goals in that game and was one of five Washington players to have a multi-point game that night. The Penguins would not give up, responding with a 5–2 win in Game 5 in Landover. Pittsburgh then won both games six and seven by two goals each to win the series in seven games. After this series, the Penguins would defeat the New York Rangers in the Patrick Division finals and win eleven consecutive games to their second Stanley Cup.
The 1992–93 season would see both teams capture the top two spots in the Patrick Division. Pittsburgh won the division with a franchise record 119 points in the regular season, including an NHL-record 17-game winning streak. However, the third-place team in the division, the New York Islanders, would upset both Washington and Pittsburgh in the division semifinals and finals, respectively, thus preventing a third consecutive Capitals–Penguins playoff matchup.
Before the 1993–94 season, the NHL renamed its divisions and made minor realignments. Pittsburgh was placed in the Northeast Division, while Washington remained in the newly named Atlantic Division that was formerly known as the Patrick Division. In spite of the divisional realignment, the two teams met once again in the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round. The Penguins won the Northeast Division and earned the second seed in the newly named Eastern Conference, while the Capitals earned the seventh seed. Unlike the previous two meetings, it was the Capitals that won the series 4–2. Washington won game one in Pittsburgh and the next five games were won by the home team. Joe Juneau and Michal Pivonka of the Capitals would post identical stats over the course of the series. The Capitals were unable to duplicate their first round success in the conference semifinals, falling to the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in five games.
After the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season, the two teams met again in first round, with the Penguins earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference while the Capitals earned the sixth seed. Just like the year prior, the Capitals won game one in Pittsburgh, and won two of the next three games to take a 3–1 series lead. This time, however, the Penguins responded with three straight wins, starting with an overtime win in game five at Civic Arena. This gave Pittsburgh a 4–3 series win. Pittsburgh center Ron Francis scored three goals and tallied 11 assists during the series. The eventual Stanley Cup champion, New Jersey Devils, went on to defeat the Penguins in the conference semifinals, 4–1.
Pittsburgh and Washington met once again in the conference quarterfinals in the 1996 playoffs as the second and seventh seeds in the East, respectively. The Capitals shocked the Penguins and won the first two games of the series in Pittsburgh by two goals each, but the Penguins won game three by a 4–1 score. Petr Nedved scored in the fourth overtime period of game four to tie the series at two games apiece. Pittsburgh won games five and six to take the series in six games. They also went on to beat the Rangers in the conference semifinals, but lost game seven of the Eastern Conference finals to the Florida Panthers.
Before the 1998–99 season, the NHL realigned its divisions once more. However, the Capitals and Penguins remained interdivisional opponents, as the Penguins were placed in the new Atlantic Division and the Capitals were placed in the new Southeast Division.
The two rivals did not meet in the playoffs again until 2000. Washington won the Southeast Division title and earned the second seed in the East, while Pittsburgh qualified as the seventh seed. Unlike the other series in the playoffs, this matchup was played with a 1–2–2–1–1 format because Pittsburgh's arena was unavailable for 7 of 14 days listed by the NHL and ABC-TV's request to televise game two. This special format caused many Capitals fans to feel irate, fearing the new format would put the team at a serious disadvantage, being in an 3–0 series hole when they returned home for game four. These worries came true after the Penguins won the first three games in the series, starting with a 7–0 win at the MCI Center. The next four games were all close as each of them were decided by one goal. Washington won game four at home, but lost in game five marking their fifth playoff series loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In the 2000–01 season, the Capitals won a weak Southeast Division once more and earned the third seed in the conference as the worst-ranked division winner, while the Penguins earned the sixth seed. In the first round, the Capitals started the series with a 1–0 win over the Penguins, but lost the next two games. Game four in Pittsburgh went to overtime, and Jeff Halpern scored for Washington, their first even strength goal in the series to tie the series at two heading back to D.C. However, Pittsburgh responded with a 2–1 win in games five and six, thus defeating the Capitals once again. In addition, the Capitals scored only three even strength goals in the entire series. The Penguins went to the Eastern Conference finals before they were defeated in five games by the Devils.
2001–2006
Following the 2001 playoff encounter, the Penguins traded esteemed forward Jaromir Jagr to the rival Capitals, with whom he then signed a seven-season contract. Despite the trade, the rivalry cooled off and Jagr did not live up to the Capitals' expectations as he led them to just one playoff appearance in the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, while Pittsburgh missed the playoffs altogether for several more seasons. The misfortunes of the two teams in the regular season would earn them the ability to draft high-end talent. Alexander Semin, Alexander Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom, were drafted by the Capitals, while Ryan Whitney, Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Kris Letang were drafted by the Penguins. These players did their part in quickly turning the fortunes of their respective teams around. Crosby and Ovechkin, the most highly touted player on each team, first met on November 22, 2005, with Crosby getting a goal and an assist and Ovechkin getting an assist. The Penguins won 5–4. The two phenoms lived up to their expectations, as they tallied 106 and 103 points to finish third and sixth in the NHL scoring race, respectively. However, both teams missed the playoffs that year. Ovechkin's 52 goals placed him third all-time for goals scored by a rookie in a single regular season, behind Teemu Selanne and Mike Bossy2006–2008
In 2006–07, Crosby notched 36 goals and 84 assists to lead the league in points and win the Art Ross Trophy. Ovechkin had a strong season as well, scoring 46 goals and 46 assists. The Penguins would improve much more quickly than the Capitals, as they secured their first playoff spot since 2001 by defeating the Capitals in their final meeting of the year. They were unable to find much success in the playoffs, as they were handed a 4–1 series loss to the stronger, much more experienced Ottawa Senators in the conference quarterfinals.The 2007–08 season saw both teams make the playoffs in the same year for the first time since 2001. The Capitals lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the conference quarterfinals in seven games preventing a conference semifinals matchup with the Penguins. Pittsburgh made it to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings, only to lose the series 4–2.