Familiar Ground for Ovechkin, Not Crosby

Players are usually predictable quotes, and you know that the company line from the Capitals and Penguins leading into their Game 7 Wednesday will be about how this is just another game.

Except for the fact that it isn't. And the players know it.

Of course, they're not just trying to convince us that it's just another game, they're trying to convince themselves. Game 7s are won with poise and will; those aren't necessarily traits that manifest when a player allows himself to realize the exact gravity of what's to come. Especially in this rare instance of the sporting world at large focusing on one hockey game. That attention has come, obviously, because of the presence of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, so how they handle the mental and emotional toll is critical.

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This is Ovechkin's third career Game 7, and his second in this postseason alone. The Capitals went the distance in their first-round series against the Rangers this year, a contest in which Ovechkin played over 21 minutes with five shots but no points and an even +/-. Last year, the Capitals also went seven in the quarterfinals, losing to the Flyers. Ovechkin played almost 24 minutes in that one, with a goal and an assist.

As a result, he seems (key word) fairly at ease heading into Wednesday's dream showdown.

"It's always great when the fans want to see you and the media gives you more attention than anybody," Ovechkin said Tuesday afternoon at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "It's sick, good and it's fun. But when you play you don't think like, 'Oh my God, right now I have to do something so after the game I can talk about it with the media and the fans.' You just only think about the victory."

In the meantime, though, Ovechkin said he does soak up the attention by reading the articles written about him and watching himself on television, be it in game highlights or on local news interviews.

"All the time," he said with his famous gap-tooth smile. "I love it."

Crosby, however, has never played in a Game 7 in the NHL -- or at any other level of his career. He's a bit more stoic about the event.

"Someone's going to go home," said Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who will be competing in his first Game 7 at any level. "So, it's pretty clear that you have to leave it out there."

Don't read too much into the surface appearance of each player. Ovechkin always wears his feelings on his sleeve, Crosby always guards his hand carefully.

And Ovechkin's experience might not be beneficial, mind you. There's something to be said for being blissfully ignorant, as Crosby is to what it feels like to be on the wrong end of one of these matchups. Ovechkin was asked about losing to the Flyers last year and didn't want to think about it. Crosby doesn't have that memory sitting in the back of his mind, and Ovechkin's inability to rein himself in compared to Crosby's composure might give the Penguins an advantage, as well.

The two have proven equally brilliant in this series, but this is the ultimate context to measure the contrasting stars. For hockey fans, this is great theater, but it goes beyond that -- two distinct superstars jockeying for the same spot in the sport's history, with physical skills so even that it all depends on what each of them has on the inside.