Puck 'N Hockey

It's time for Alex to be Ovi again. (photo credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images North America)

Happy December to all. With all the holiday joy floating around many Caps fans just want one early Christmas present. Dale Hunter’s first win as bench boss. Many are hoping it will be against the arch nemesis, Pittsburgh Penguins. After a good start against a red-hot Blues team and a few more hours of practice both on and off the ice the Capitals seem more acclimated to the new coach.

The Penguins have had a stellar start to the season. They now sit atop the Eastern Conference table but have very little breathing room. The Penguins have gotten a boost lately. The much-anticipated return of Captain Sidney Crosby has been everything they had hoped for. In the five games since his return he has 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists). He also has a plus 7 rating and 8 PIMs. Nothing really brings out the best in top world talent like a showdown with the best. Hopefully, the Caps come in mentally prepared cause the best in the world will be on the ice this evening.

Match Up: While much fan fare has been given to the Pens Captain Crosby lately there is a stable of talented scorers behind him. James Neal, Evgeni Malkin and Pascal Dupuis all come in with 20 or more points. Then Pens also boast 6 other players having 10 or more points early on the season. In net the Penguins haven’t had a whiff of controversy. Marc André Fleury has been outstanding in-goal this season. He is off to one of his better starts having won 13 games and putting up a .922 save percentage to go along with a goals against average of 2.17. The Pens are  an offensive team but are a Scrooge when it comes to goals against. For the season they have the fourth least goals against in the Eastern Conference.

X Factor: This is one of the first big tests early in the Dale Hunter era. Not only is the monkey on his back because he is win less thus far but c’mon it’s Pittsburgh! It’s Sidney Crosby versus Ovi. This game really doesn’t need much build up. There will be a massive fire in both locker rooms. You know #87 will bring his best. It’s time for #8 to bring his. This season really hasn’t been Ovechkin’s year. He was to have a big turn around after a year that wasn’t to his liking. Look for Alex Ovechkin to really turn it on tonight.