I love the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I intentionally watch just enough hockey during the regular season to know who to watch when the playoffs roll around in April.  There is almost nothing better in sport than a classic playoff hockey game. 

Being from the DC area, it has been really great to see the resurgence of the Washington Capitals in recent years.  With Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, and others, the Caps are a lot of fun to watch.  Owner Ted Leonsis has done a lot to make hockey cool in our town, and he's a cool guy to boot. 

At the same time, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been able to revitalize themselves in the Steel City.  With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Marc Andre Fleury, the Pens are very talented.

Last night was their second game in the best of seven in the Eastern Conference Semifinal round.  What a game.  Both Ovechkin and Crosby poured in hat tricks in back and forth scoring.  In the end, the Caps won 4-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the series that goes to Pittsburgh.

Game highlights from last night

I couldn't help but think that this matchup was along the lines of Magic and Bird in the 1980s, or even Jordan and Dominique Wilkins in the early 1990s.  Even more so, I thought that the NHL gets an up-to seven game equivalent of Tiger Woods versus Phil Mickelson.

Sure, there are other players on the ice and the team.  Some are quite popular with the fans.  Really, though, everyone came to see Alex the Great and Sid the Kid.  And they delivered.  It reminded me some of Tiger and Phil at the Masters, or at Doral in 2005.  There are other times, including '02 at the US Open at Bethpage.  Golf thrives when the recognized best duel down the stretch in a big deal.

That brings us to this week.  Sergio Garcia defends his Players Championship and looks to become the first champion to ever go back-to-back.  Meanwhile, Woods and Mickelson both showed some form at Quail Hollow.  Seems like this may be a week that a motivated Woods really goes after Sawgrass and Mickelson, tasting the world number one ranking, tries to win his second title.

After last year's Goydos-Garcia drama, I'm hoping for a lot of the same this year.