Ovechkin, Crosby to team up for Breakaway Challenge at All-Star Skills

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby will try to work some magic together when they team up in the Great Clips NHL Breakaway Challenge at the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS).

"Me and him talked about it and we'll see what's going to happen," Ovechkin said at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game Media Day on Thursday.
The rivalry between Ovechkin's Washington Capitals and Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins has been one of the most heated in the NHL since they each entered the NHL to begin the 2005-06 season. But over their 18 seasons playing against each other, Ovechkin and Crosby have developed a friendship.
So, Ovechkin is looking forward to what they have planned for the Breakaway Challenge, in which shooters mix creativity with entertainment while trying to score on a breakaway. In this case, the guest goalie, 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Roberto Luongo, will have to face two of the League's greatest players in Ovechkin, who is second in NHL history with 812 goals, and Crosby, whose 1,469 points (541 goals, 928 assists) are most among active players and 15th in League history.
"I'm not going to tell everything," Ovechkin said. "If it's going to work, I think it's going to be pretty cool, but we'll see."
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Ovechkin, 37, and Crosby, 35, have been linked throughout their careers, which have included four series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Crosby and the Penguins won the first three (2009, 2016, 2017) and went on to win the Stanley Cup each time before Ovechkin and the Capitals prevailed in their 2018 series and went on the win their first championship.
Remarkably, only five points separate them, with Ovechkin second among active players and 17th in NHL history with 1,464 (812 goals, 652 assists).
Crosby leads the Penguins with 60 points (24 goals, 36 assists) in 49 games this season. Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 54 points (32 goals, 22 assists) in 52 games.
"I think he still enjoys playing hockey. I'm still enjoying playing hockey and I'm pretty sure when me and him are going to be retired we're just going to have a couple beers together and talk about the whole thing that happened in the last 15-16 years," Ovechkin said. "I think it's great for hockey for previous generations and future generations to see that kind of comparison, that kind of battle between the two of us, two organizations. I think it's great for the game."
Ovechkin also has enjoyed how his relationship with Crosby has evolved, where each sort of roots for the other when they've not facing each other. In fact, Crosby said last season that he wants to see Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894 goals.
"We're good friends," Ovechkin said. "We can call each other. If he has some milestones coming up and he reaches it, I call him and shoot him a text. The first couple of years, it was kind of a different relationship. We were young, but now we've matured."

Crosby and Ovechkin will play together for the third time with the Metropolitan Division at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS). They played on the same line in the 3-on-3 All-Star Game tournaments in 2017 and 2018.
Their friendship began to form at the 2017 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
"We've played against each other for a long time, but being able to share, you know, experiences like this, I think are pretty unique," Crosby said. "We've always, had, you know, big games against each other, and then obviously, always had the microscope on us. But to be able to do it in a relaxed environment like this and catch up a bit, it's just nice to share that with him.
"It's definitely something that I appreciate more and more with every year. Just being able to compete against him all these years and, you know, seeing what he continues to do. I think just to kind of see that firsthand year after year, is pretty unique. And obviously, he's well on his way to, to get the (goals) record, so hopefully he does it. But yeah, it's been cool to kind of share that with him over the years."
Crosby will play in his eighth All-Star Game and Ovechkin will play in his eighth, which is most among players participating this season. It will be Ovechkin's first since 2018 and first with his two sons, Sergei, 4, and Ilya, 2.
Ovechkin plans to have Sergei with him in the locker room Friday before the All-Star Skills. Ovechkin will also participate in the Geico NHL Hardest Shot, which he won in 2018.
"Unfortunately, last year, I get COVID and I can't come to the (All-Star) game," Ovechkin said. "But this year, I'm here, my family is here, Sergei get a little bit older and he's going to be very excited to be in the locker room, to see all the players. I'm excited."