12/17/14

What is Your Favorite NHL Rivalry?

My favorite NHL rivalry is the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. It is always fun to see two of the NHL's greatest players square off against each other. The games are intense and very fun to watch. My favorite moment in the rivalry is the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Capitals took a 2-0 series lead when they defeated the Penguins 3-2 in Game 1 and 4-3 in Game 2. Game 2 of that series is one that many hockey fans will remember for a long time, as both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin scored hat tricks. The series came back to Pittsburgh for Games 3 and 4. Desperate for a win, the Pens won Game 3 by a score of 3-2 when Kris Letang lit the lamp in overtime to cut the series deficit to 2-1. The Penguins evened the series with a 5-3 win in Game 4. The series went back to Washington for Game 5. The Penguins won Game 5 4-3 on Evgeni Malkin's overtime goal. The series went back to Pittsburgh with all the momentum in the Penguins' favor. Unfortunately, the Capitals won Game 6 by a score of 5-4 on David Steckel's overtime goal. Another unfortunate thing about this game is that I was there. Curse you, David Steckel!!!!!! The series went back to Washington for a pivotal Game 7. The Penguins cruised to a 6-2 victory and won the series 4-3. The Penguins went on to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals and they defeated the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. I have seen this rivalry live three times. My favorite was the last one that I went to. The game was on March 19, 2013. The Capitals took a 1-0 lead when Alex Ovechkin scored at 8:14 of the second period. The Penguins tied the game at 1-1 when Paul Martin fired a shot past Braden Holtby at 11:07 of the second period for a power play goal. After killing off a four-minute power play, Sidney Crosby led a charge and Matt Niskanen fired a shot past Holtby to put the Penguins ahead 2-1. The score held true and the Penguins won 2-1. The rivalry will be renewed when the Capitals come to Pittsburgh for a game on December 27. This will be an exciting game, as it will be the first time that both teams meet this season and it will be a homecoming for assistant coach Todd Reirden and defensemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen. Reirden spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach on the Penguins. Orpik spent his first 11 NHL seasons with the Penguins and Niskanen was acquired by the Penguins in a trade with the Dallas Stars in February of 2011. The rivalry between the Penguins and Capitals is fierce and the games are always exciting. What is your favorite NHL rivalry?