Fans are well aware of the Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby rivalry, but Ovechkin’s newest American foe and other big rival skates for Toronto.
Less than a decade ago, no one would have believed that one of the biggest rivals of Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin would turn out to be an NHL skater that was born in San Ramon, California, and grew up playing hockey in Arizona.
Not only that, but that the future rivalry could arguably be bigger and better than Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby’s epic saga, after both had won a Stanley Cup championship.
The Russian native always had his Canadian nemesis in Crosby dating back to 2005; however, now fans can officially put the icing on the cake for Ovechkin’s American foe, Auston Matthews, after his recent comments about the Toronto Maple Leafs’ play.
To backtrack, the comments were made after Tuesday morning’s skate prior to Toronto hosting the Caps at Scotiabank Arena that night.
Below, Ovechkin can be heard feeding Leafs Nation with its harsh reality.
https://twitter.com/YahooCASports/status/1189216814917660673?s=20
Or, perhaps the Great 8 was supplying a suggestion for Toronto head coach Mike Babcock and company, which can be heard below.
Either way, Ovechkin’s comments clearly grasped all of Toronto’s attention including Babcock, who didn’t necessarily disagree with the 2018 Stanley Cup champion’s comments.
Mike Babcock on what Ovi said of #Leafs: "It hurts my feelings; I can tell you that. I'm the coach, I'm supposed to get all this organized. But we know this. We're working towards it every day. We're talking about it every single day...We think we're going in the right direction"
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 30, 2019
What spices this rivalry up even more is the fact the Ovechkin was guilty of not “playing differently” and a more team-oriented game when he should have been for nine Stanley Cup playoff appearances when the Caps were underachievers for far too long.
Matthews jabbed back and acknowledged that aspect noted above when asked about Ovechkin’s comments:
Auston Matthews, with really no animosity in his tone, had this answer for Ovechkin: “How many times did they lose to Pittsburgh before finally breaking through?”
— Justin Cuthbert (@jccuthbert) October 30, 2019
Alex Ovechkin put his money where his mouth was later that night in enemy territory though, as the future Hockey Hall-of-Famer recorded a four-point outing, which included the overtime game-winning goal.
It was an unbelievable and memorable day for Washington fans, and one that will go down for all the wrong reasons in Toronto’s historic memory bank – unless Matthews and the Leafs can take down the Caps the next time the two meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It’s no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs should boast a better record at this point in the season, let alone the team should have at least advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past two or three seasons.
Keep in mind the Capitals eliminated the Maple Leafs during the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, but the Leafs gave Washington a scare when they took a 2-1 series lead.
However, after Ovechkin’s overall performance North of Border this past Tuesday, round two between these foes will be that much more intense.
Let’s not forget that the Russian’s career domination over the Leafs (41g-32a-73PTS) is another juicy ingredient in the Ovechkin-Matthews rivalry.