Pittsburgh (29-25-6) at Washington (37-17-5) 12:30 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- A year ago it was Sidney Crosby and the

Pittsburgh Penguins riding high at the top of the Eastern

Conference while Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals

teetered on the brink of obscurity. Times have changed.

Crosby and the Penguins will be in search of a rare three-game

winning streak when they face Ovechkin and the Washington

Capitals on Sunday.

Pittsburgh raced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals last

season based around a dynamic offense that included Crosby and

fellow young star Evgeni Malkin. While those two are still

around, the Penguins have not been able to find the same magic

yet this season and would be on the outside looking in if the

season ended today.

But after a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers

on Saturday, things might be looking up. Crosby scored twice,

including the game-winner with 2:45 left, and Malkin added a

goal.

Crosby now has points in three consecutive games while Malkin

has one goal in each of the last three.

Ovechkin and the Capitals, who waited until the final week of

the season last year to punch their ticket to the playoffs, are

one of the top teams in the East this season.

Ovechkin leads the league with 42 goals but had a streak of 10

straight games with a point snapped on Friday in a 4-1 loss

against Colorado.

Washington won the first two meetings of the season between the

teams, including a 6-3 victory on January 14 in which Ovechkin

scored twice.