There is also only a 250-mile drive between the cities of Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, allowing visiting fans of both teams to attend each other's games in fairly large quantities.

In addition to the geography and deep playoff history, the emergence of Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) and Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) as two of the NHL's biggest superstars has fueled the rivalry.

Starting in the early 1980s, Pittsburgh and Washington had developed some animosity towards each other,[13] but their matchup was never considered one of the top rivalries because they were rarely good at the same time.

The Capitals finished third in the Patrick Division and made it to the Wales Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins (but lost that series 4–0), while the Penguins did not even make the playoffs.

After this series, the Penguins would defeat the New York Rangers in the Patrick Division finals and win eleven consecutive games to their second Stanley Cup.

[4] The Capitals were unable to duplicate their first round success in the conference semifinals, falling to the Presidents' Trophy-winning (and eventual champion) New York Rangers in five games.

[23] The two phenoms lived up to their expectations, as they tallied 106 (Ovechkin) and 103 points (Crosby) to finish third and sixth in the NHL scoring race, respectively.

[23] They were unable to find much success in the playoffs, as they were handed a 4–1 series loss to the stronger, much more experienced Ottawa Senators in the conference quarterfinals.

Pittsburgh later found themselves trying to kill a five-on-three penalty, and Washington capitalized on it on a goal by Alexander Ovechkin assisted by Alex Semin to take a 2–1 lead.

Fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin and Ukrainian Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the second and third period, respectively, to give the Penguins a 2–1 lead in the game.

Alexander Ovechkin and John Erskine of Washington and Brooks Orpik and Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh all received roughing penalties.

This proved costly, as Malkin attempted a pass to Sidney Crosby which was broken up by Capitals' defenseman Tom Poti and deflected into the net past Semyon Varlamov to give Pittsburgh a 4–3 overtime win and a 3–2 series lead heading back to Mellon Arena.

Pittsburgh and Washington started the third period by trading power play goals by Kris Letang and Brooks Laich, respectively, and then Kozlov scored at even strength to put the Capitals ahead by one.

Brooks Laich scored afterward, but the Penguins held on for a 6–2 game seven win to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

[32] Pittsburgh scored first off an Evgeni Malkin breakaway in the second period before Washington rallied for three straight goals, including two by Eric Fehr.

[33] This game is also notable for being the beginning of Sidney Crosby's concussion issues, as Capitals' center Dave Steckel clipped him in the head by accident behind the play.

Crosby returned to the Penguins' lineup four days later against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but after getting hit by defenseman Victor Hedman, he did not play another game for ten months.

The Capitals and Penguins were both placed into the newly formed Metropolitan Division, making the two teams divisional rivals for the first time since the 1992–93 season.

In the extra session, Oshie skated around the Penguins' goal with the puck for a wraparound chance, but goaltender Matt Murray got a piece of it.

The Penguins opened the game with first period goals from right wingers Patric Hornqvist and Tom Kuhnhackl to grab a 2–0 lead heading into the first intermission.

He was originally whistled for interference, and then was suspended one game by the NHL's Department of Player Safety for making Johansson's head the main point of contact.

Early in the second period, Pittsburgh center Matt Cullen scored after a lucky bounce off the boards that sent the puck on his stick to set him up for a breakaway goal.

Before the second intermission, his star counterpart, Alexander Ovechkin, took a slapshot and blazed the puck past Fleury and into the cut the Pittsburgh lead in half.

[40] Game two was won by Pittsburgh 6–2, behind two-goal performances from Phil Kessel and rookie Jake Guentzel, along with a goal by Matt Cullen and Evgeni Malkin.

With only a couple of minutes left in regulation, the Penguins were down by two goals and had been kept off the scoreboard, but that was short-lived, as Evgeni Malkin cut the Capitals' lead in half.

The Penguins headed into overtime with confidence, but their comeback fell short as Washington's defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored a power play goal in the extra session to cut Pittsburgh's series lead in half.

The Penguins did not relinquish their 2–0 lead, as they shut out their arch-rivals in Washington to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.

Ovechkin initially hit the post off a cross-ice pass from Nicklas Backstrom, but was able to bat the mid-air puck past Murray and into the net, giving Washington a 2–1 series lead.

[53] The next game, Wilson delivered a hard hit to the shoulder of Zach Aston-Reese, giving the rookie center a concussion and broken jaw.

Wilson would receive a three-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety, and Aston-Reese missed the remainder of the series from the sustained injuries.