Go here and look at it for yourself.

It looks to me like Crosby stopped skating and was looking for the end of the period, not at where he was on the ice.

It looks to me like Steckel is leaning forward skating hard to get back into the play.

It looks to me like Steckel even tried to avoid the collision altogether, as he is left arm is away from his body for balance before the contact is even made.

Yes, Sidney Crosby got hit in the head by David Steckel's shoulder.  That much we can all agree on.  I think neutral observers will agree though that this was incidental contact and not the dirty play that several of the Penguins are insinuating it was.

In fact, if it hadn't involved Crosby, we probably wouldn't be talking about it at all.  These kinds of collisions happen in every NHL game.

Maybe they should look at the replay instead of blindly defending their captain.

I guess D.J. King will get a sweater Feb. 6.

In the finale of a four-game grudge max, with absolutely nothing at stake, the Washington Capitals showed once again their regular season mastery over the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning 6-3 at "The Igloo" to complete the season sweep.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the contest, a power play early in the third period to push the lead back to two, and an empty net gift from his center, Nick Backstrom, to tie Sidney Crosby at 48 for the league's goal title, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy.

The Caps got out to a two-goal lead courtesy of an Alexander Semin slap shot (39) in the first period and a Mike Knuble slapper (28) just 42 seconds into the second.

Crosby notched a power play marker six minutes later, sniping a shot between penalty killers David Steckel and Tyler Sloan.

But the backbreaker tonight was a Tomas Fleischmann wrist shot just 21 seconds later that sent Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fluery to the showers early.

The play was set up by Semin, who beat Max Talbot to a puck on the boards, tapping it back to Flash for the shot before paying the price with a high elbow from Talbot to Semin's earhole that failed to garner a call from the stripes.

In fact, the Penguins got four power plays to the Caps' one, marking the 15th straight meeting between the two where Pittsburgh had equal to or more power play opportunites than the Caps.

The Professor, Matt Bradley, tipped in a shot from Quentin Laing to reach his personal best 10th goal of the season, registering the actual game-winning goal.  Half of Bradley's goals have been scored as game-winning goals this season.

Jordan Leopold scored the other two goals for Pittsburgh.  The first was slap shot that bounced of defenseman Shaone Morrisonn, who lost his stick on the play and tried to soccer kick to shot.  Instead it went through goalie Semyon Varlamov's pads.

Varlamov was elsewise strong in net, making 26 saves on 29 shots. 

For the Caps to prove supremacy over the defending Stanley Cup Champions, they'll have to do more than win four regular season games.  But sweeping the season series serves notice that Washington is ready for the challenge that will come in the second season.

If the playoffs started today, Pittsburgh would be the four seed, setting up a potential second round matchup between the bitter rivals. 

Regardless of which round it happens in, you'd have to think the Caps will have to exorcize some demons this post-season if they wish to obtain the one goal they have left.  And sweeping the season series should give them some more confidence toward that goal.

Check out Cooley's latest blog post. I know it's his brother that does most of the posting, but it's still pretty awesome and going out under Chris' name on the blog. Cooley supports the other home teams. Good for him.

"What I can say about him?" reigning Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin said. "He is a good player, but he talks too much."

"Like it or lump it, that's what he does," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said about Ovechkin's checking, insinuating dirty play. "Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it."

"I play hard. If he wants to do something like hit me again, try to hit me again -- and I'll talk to you guys [about] who plays dirty," Ovechkin said. "That's my game. It's not cheap shots, it's a game moment. But he doesn't like it, it's his problem."

Ah yes, now that we have that settled, we can talk about a hockey game.

The Washington Capitals (38-17-5, first in Southeast) defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins (29-26-6, fourth in Atlantic) 5-2 before a raucous, sold out Verizon Center Sunday afternoon on national television.

The Capitals got goals from five different players, and held the Pens' dynamic duo to an assist apiece in turning back the tenth place team in the conference, despite being granted eight power play chances to DC's three, including all three man-advantages int he third period. Pittsburgh went just 1-for-8 with the extra man. The Caps went two-for-three.

The Capitals are 3-0 against the Penguins this season and 4-1-1 since Bruce Boudreau took over in November 2007. The Caps have won 13 straight at home against Eastern Conference opponents and hold the East's best home record at 24-5-1 overall.

The win gives the Caps their best record through 60 games in franchise history.

Washington received goals from Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn and Brooks Laich, chasing Peguins starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after Laich's tally. Pittsburgh got markers from Maxime Talbot and Sergei Gonchar, playing in just his fourth game this season since returning from a shoulder injury.

Jose Theodore made 31 saves in the win for Washington.

Maxime Talbot and Sergei Gonchar scored for the Penguins, losers of six of seven on the road.

Never was the status of this rivalry more evident than late in the second period, as both superstars were exiting the ice for a line change. Ovie gave Crosby a shoulder check and Crosby responded by trying to dump Ovechkin over the boards and into the Caps team bench. Ovechkin grabbed Crosby by the back of the neck, pulling his helmet off in the process, right in front of Washington's bench, and on-ice reporter Pierre McGuire for NBC.

A linesman stepped between the players and the jawing continued, but Ovechkin got the last word in waving "bye bye" to Sid the Kid as Crosby was pushed toward the Penguins bench, much like a petulant child sent to a "time out".

"I think he got frustrated because he wasn't getting the freedom he's had in this building before," Boudreau said of Crosby's dust-up with Ovechkin. "It adds spice. It's entertainment. It gets your blood boiling a bit. And every time Alex gets a little more excitable, it can be good for us."

The Capitals face their other rival from the Commonwealth, the Philadelphia Flyers, Tuesday night at 7:00 pm from Verizon Center. Philly fell to Pittsburgh Saturday night 5-4, and are fourth in the conference with 71 points.

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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
06:53 Power Play - Alex Ovechkin (43), Snap Shot. Assist: Backstrom, Fedorov
12:08 Maxime Talbot (8), Wrist Shot. Assist: Eaton, Orpik
13:02 Power Play - Alexander Semin (22), Wrist Shot. Assist: Backstrom, Green

2ND PERIOD
00.56 Sergei Fedorov (6), Slap Shot. Assist: Semin
04:46 Power Play - Sergei Gonchar (2), Slap Shot. Assist: Crosby, Malkin
12:56 Shaone Morrisonn (3), Slap Shot. Assist: Ovechkin, Fehr
13:21 Brooks Laich (14), Wrist Shot. Assist: Poti, Morrisonn

3RD PERIOD
None

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THREE STARS

1. S. Fedorov - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)

2. A. Ovechkin - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)

3. A. Semin - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)

The Washington Capitals (2-1-0) travel to face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-1) at 7:30 pm at Mellon Arena in the first of four meetings this season.

Bruce Boudreau's squad, winners of two in a row, would like nothing more than to continue the dominant style of play they displayed Monday night when they defeated a previously unbeaten Vancouver team 5-1. Alexander Semin scored twice and Michael Nylander played a terrific game along the boards and scored on a penalty shot in the decisive second period.

With the injury to Viktor Kozlov, Eric Fehr will enter the line-up and play RW on a line with Sergei Fedorov and Tomas Fleischmann. Jose Theodore is expected to start in net.

Pittsburgh split two games with Ottawa in Sweden to start the season, winning 4-3 in overtime and losing 3-1 the next night. The Pens dropped an OT home ice match 2-1 to New Jersey over the weekend, then won for the first time at home in OT against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night 3-2.

The Pens have only one player, Tyler Kennedy, with more than one goal so far in four games. Sid the Kid is scoreless in 14 shots, registering just two assists, as Coach Michel Therrien is still incorporating several new faces into his line-up.

Here's what some media outlets are saying about tonight's marquee match-up.

WHO'S HOT:

CAPS: LW Alexander Semin (3-3-6, +3); D Mike Green (3-2-5, +3); C Michael Nylander (1-3-4, even)

PENS: C Tyler Kennedy (2-1-3, +1); C Evgeni Malkin (1-2-3, +2)

WHO'S NOT:

CAPS: RW Tomas Fleischmann (0-1-1, -2); RW Chris Clark (0-1-1, -1); C Nicklas Backstrom (0-1-1, +1, five SOG in three games)

PENS: D Kris Letang (0-2-2, -2); LW Matt Cooke (0-1-1, -2); LW Ruslan Fedotenko (0-0-0, -1); C Maxime Talbot (0-0-0, -5)

INJURIES:
CAPS: LW Viktor Kozlov (left knee), out two weeks.

PENS: D Sergei Gonchar (shoulder), IR; D Ryan Whitney (foot), out.
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