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."