Penguins End Season On High Note, Defeat Caps, 5-2

It's difficult to imagine a more fitting end to the 2024-25 season - and any season, really - than one last matchup between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.

That's what happened in the Pittsburgh Penguins' final game of the season on Thursday, and Crosby's team came ready to play.

The Penguins defeated the first-place Washington Capitals, 5-2, in yet another contest that saw Crosby and Ovechkin each light the lamp. Bryan Rust also hit the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career, and he had two tallies on the evening.

The rivalry between these two teams, and two all-time greats, never gets old. Even though the teams will part ways in much different directions - the Penguins will get an early start to their summer and the Capitals are bound for a first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs - it's still a sight to behold two decades later.

"Seeing them on the ice tonight after two huge milestones for each of them this year... I think it's really cool, and the hockey geek in me was really excited to be a part of that."

The game got off to a good start for Washington, as forward Connor McMichael potted his 26th goal of the season just four minutes into the game. But Rust responded with this 30th goal just 46 seconds later off a feed from Ville Koivunen, and the 1-1 tie was taken into first intermission.

Pittsburgh received a power play a little more than six minutes into the second period, when Capitals forward Andrew Mangiapane went off for holding the stick. Rust struck again, this time on a ridiculous no-look backhand feed from Crosby cross-crease. That point secured the sixth 90-point season of Crosby's career.

A few minutes later, Crosby added a goal of his own, going to one knee in his office just below the right circle to snipe home a feed from Philip Tomasino to make it 3-1 Penguins.

Then, just as Crosby scored a signature goal, Ovechkin followed it up with one of his own on the power play, which came in the form of a heavy one-timer from the top of the left circle to cut the Penguins' lead to 3-2.

But Pittsburgh completely took over in the third period, getting tallies from Danton Heinen - his first this season as a Penguin - just as shorthanded time expired and from Tomasino just 15 seconds later. 

It was a great team effort from top to bottom, but - although they will end the season on a high note - it doesn't make it any less disappointing that they won't be suiting up for the playoffs along with the Capitals.

"We kind of know that we should have won a lot more games earlier in the year," Rust said. "Which is, kind of, a tougher pill to swallow that if we would've played a little but more like this through the first large part of the year, maybe we'd be playing on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, whatever it is. But, unfortunately, we didn't."

Here are some notes and observations from the final game of 2024-25:

- It's really a great thing to see Rust hit the 30-goal mark, Rickard Rakell hit the 70-point mark (a new career-high), Crosby hit the 90-point mark, and Matt Grzelcyk hit the 40-point mark. Aside from Crosby, all of those were career-firsts.

The Penguins are one of only five teams with three 30-goal-scorers this season (Rust, Crosby, and Rakell), and Crosby is the only player in NHL history to record three 90-point seasons over the age of 35. 

Just really incredible stuff from some the veterans on this Penguins team this season.

• It was easy to tell that Tomasino had a lot to play for in this game.

A pending restricted free agent, Tomasino, 23, was trying to make something happen on just about every shift. He was getting creative in the offensive zone, trying to skate and deke around guys to get to the danger areas of the ice, shooting the puck at every given opportunity... and he made a nice play to set up Crosby's goal.

It's hard to say what the Penguins are going to do with each of their pending-RFAs. They only have so many open roster spots, and with young prospects knocking on the door, development is the priority. They won't want to block any players from being where they should be, but they also can't rely entirely on prospects to fill out the depth of their 2025-26 roster.

If I was Dubas, I would bring back Tomasino on a one-year "prove-it" deal. I suspect something like that will happen. But you never know, and these guys certainly can't take anything for granted. 

Tomasino certainly didn't. He left it all out there Thursday.

- I liked what I saw from the fourth line of Sam Poulin, Vasily Ponomarev, and Valtteri Puustinen on Thursday. I thought they served their function as an energy line and generated some good opportunities on the forecheck.

I don't expect Poulin or Puustinen to factor in heavily regarding the Penguins' future at this point. But, that's not to say they couldn't be somewhat effective fourth-line players when needed. 

- Erik Karlsson has been a polarizing figure among Penguins' fans since his arrival in the summer of 2023.

There is no question that Karlsson is in a complete league of his own in terms of the type of player he is. Few players in the game can impact a game as strongly as he does on both sides of the coin.

And, man, was this a vintage Karlsson performance against the Capitals.

He made a gorgeous play leading up to a prime scoring opportunity for Rickard Rakell during the first period, pirhouetting around a defender, smoothly carrying the puck into the left circle, and feeding Rakell across the ice with an open net that he simply missed. His skating was on full display, and he kept skating down low in the offensive zone and taking the reins, just as he does when he's at his best.

This is the version of Karlsson the Penguins need - and have needed - far more often. And, depending on what happens this summer, this may have been the final game for Karlsson in a Penguins' uniform. 

We'll see what happens. But if he does remain in Pittsburgh next season, the coaching staff and Karlsson need to figure out a happy medium that allows him to do this kind of stuff more often. Whether that's coach or player... the jury is out on.

- I feel like a broken record at this point, but I can't say enough how impressed I am by Koivunen. 

His instincts are just so far beyond his age. He looks like a natural out there with Crosby and Rust, and he just knows where to go and what play to make. He makes the right decision almost every time.

He appeared to finally have his first NHL goal in the third period, as he crashed into the net-front and took a few swats. However, he put the puck in the net with his hand, so it was called back.

Regardless, he recorded two points on the evening and had seven points in eight NHL games.

What this kid has shown in a small sample size should give the Penguins a strong dose of encouragement heading into next season. There is absolutely no way this guy should be left off of the NHL roster from the get-go. He and Rutger McGroarty have earned their spots.

- There was a really nice video tribute and a great ovation for Ovechkin during the first commercial break in the first period. And it was well-deserved.

This rivalry between the Caps and Pens - and between Ovechkin and Crosby - has been one of the very best in sports. Maybe ever. What they both accomplished this season by beating Gretzky in their own signature way won't soon be forgotten.

I said it after the last game, and I'll say it again: Enjoy this, folks. It has truly been a remarkable 20 years so far.