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The numbers 99 against 66 were still in the NHL, it is the same for numbers 97 and 87 today.
Wayne Gretzky faced Mario Lemieux, the heir apparent on the throne, but the two men were on the ice together only 25 times, although their teams were tied 44 times from 1984 to 1985., The first season Super Mario in the NHL, and 98-99, Wayne's last.
At one point, the Pittsburgh icon was fighting cancer and suffering from back pain and a painful hip.
One night in March 1996, however, Mario scored seven points against the St. Louis Blues, the Gretzky. On Halloween in 1989, Gretzky scored a hat trick and three badists for the Los Angeles Kings against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the only NHL team to play.
Seven times each player had at least two points in his mano-o-mano duel.
And we now have Connor McDavid against Sidney Crosby for the fifth time only on Tuesday. McDavid scored two goals and five badists in the first four games and Crosby only one badist, but the Penguins are 4-0 and two in overtime.
Crosby's played 98 offsets from McDavid's 102 in all four meetings.
Crosby claims that McDavid – with his consecutive Art Ross awards and his Hart Trophy, not to mention his electrifying skating and puck handling – is currently the best player in the world.
"I think McDavid is distinguished based on the awards, honors, and consistency that he has achieved," said the Pittsburgh Penguins captain (five badists and no goals in six games this year), at NHL.com last week. "I think it's fair to say that it's an easy choice just because of that."
McDavid, who has scored eleven points in six games, differs from Crosby, who has three Stanley Cup rings and two Olympic gold medals, plus two Harts as the league's most valuable player and two titles.
In addition to the obvious, goals and badists (1,171 points in 870 games), McDavid has tried to soak up what Crosby really has to do. In all respects, Crosby is one of the 10 greatest players of all time. The rewards the team earns, points (1.3 per game, the top five in history). And Crosby is only 31 years old.
"His attack speaks for itself, but you watch his game in total of 200 feet and his work in the circle of the faceoff … he's solid on the defensive side," McDavid said.
"He's the perfect mix of everything. He has this flash, but also the grind to his game. "
McDavid recalls that the team lost more than points in their face-to-face meetings.
"I do not think we beat them, so we have to beat a team that knows how to win," McDavid said.
Milan Lucic saw Crosby a lot when he was in Boston and knows what he brings to the table.
"It's very special when Connor and Sid meet," Lucic said. "It's a game that many people are looking at and, as an athlete, you want to be … playing in front of and with greatness."
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan has seen Crosby be part of a Canadian world champion team abroad. He saw him as an enemy and a contributor in his team and loved big players, like all coaches.
"You can watch these stars fight and there is usually more motivation. They are proud and successful players, "said McLellan. "They do things that others can not do. You have to be careful as a coach, fan, teammate. When they are on the ice, something good usually happens. "
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan tries without pbadion to win a hockey game as a coach, but he is also a fan, so yes, McDavid against Crosby is emotionally involved with him.
"Sid has been so good and for so long, and in my books, he's the best 200-footer player in the game," Sullivan told the Pittsburgh writers after Monday's training in Banff. "That's one reason the Penguins won the Stanley Cup as they were when Sid was here, because he played a big part in that performance.
"We are very fortunate to have the athletes of our league, the next generation of players, and they are exciting to watch … McDavid is one, (Auston) Matthews is another.
And not only Crosby, there is Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh.
He has long played the second banana in Crosby, but on everyone's scale, he is one of the top 20 players in the world and has been, for a decade, Sid's equal in many ways.
"When he's at his best, he's one of the best players in the league, if not the best. I still do not understand why Malkin is not one of the top 100 players ever, because he's so good, "said Lucic. "I know everyone is talking about the match between Crosby and McDavid, but in the locker room we also have the number 71 in our minds."
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On Twitter: @NHLbyMatty
Podcast Last oil spill: In the desperate search for Leon Draisaitl
Jim Matheson, Hockey Hall of Fame writer, talks with Craig Ellingson about Leon Draisaitl, the Edmonton Oilers second-row center who failed to offend his teammates Milan Lucic and Kailer Yamamoto at the beginning of the NHL season. They also talk about the game of the right-wing members of the team, especially Jesse Puljujarvi, and what it might take to see him get more ice time and play the game. one of the best lines of the Oilers, how teams and front lines find the right chemical composition and how difficult that can be, in addition to the Winnipeg Jets and the challenge of staying a competitor and to meet the increased expectations after an impressive playoff series.
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