Not only will two of the best teams in the NHL take the ice live on NBC Sunday at Noon ET, but arguably the best two players in the league will resume their rivalry with each other when Sidney Crosby's Penguins visit Alex Ovechkin's Capitals.

Ovechkin and Crosby delighted the sports world last spring with a memorable seven-game series in the Eastern Conference semifinals, including both superstars recording a hat trick in Game 2, that elevated what had been a rivalry between individuals into what many are calling the NHL's best current team rivalry.

Mike "Doc" Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (inside-the-glass reporter) call the action. McGuire will pull double duty, hosting NBC’s studio show alongside analyst Mike Milbury on site at the Verizon Center.

"I don’t think we can make enough of it," said Olczyk. "It’s one of those matchups that come around not as often as we like. It speaks to the individuals, the superstar status that both these players have."

"This is similar to when Edmonton and Pittsburgh used to get together and you had Wayne Gretzky against Mario Lemieux," added Emrick. "But they met so infrequently. Ovechkin and Crosby meet four times in the regular season, plus seven games in last year’s playoffs. People ask me, 'Who is the best?' I say, 'I don’t care. I’m just glad they’re both in the same solar system so we get to watch them.'"

On Jan. 21 at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, the Capitals defeated the Penguins, 6-3, in the first meeting between the two teams of the season. Ovechkin scored two goals, while Crosby had one.

Ovechkin is first in the league with 82 points, including a league-high 39 goals, while Crosby is tied for fourth in the league with 71 points, including 37 goals (third in the NHL).

Everything seems to be clicking just fine for the Capitals, who haven't lost since Jan. 12 at Tampa Bay and have outscored opponents 62-29 in the franchise-record 13-game winning streak. The team’s 86 points rank first in the NHL. The Penguins are in fourth in the Eastern Conference with 71 points.

"We're pretty confident. There is a good atmosphere in the locker room," Ovechkin said. "This team is playing good right now and we feel good about ourselves. If I don't play well, a different guy steps up. We play for each other."

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Ovechkin had two goals and an assist Thursday night against the Rangers to reach 500 NHL points. He is the fifth player to achieve the milestone in five seasons, doing it in only 373 games.

"It seems that the Washington Capitals are playing with a ton of confidence," said Olczyk. "Last year, they pushed the Penguins to the brink of elimination in Game 7 at home. They have a great opportunity to have home ice come playoff time."

"Washington has become an elite team, so you have one elite team meeting another, with Pittsburgh being the defending champions," said Emrick.

The game will be the Penguins' third consecutive on a Sunday on NBC Sports. They defeated Philadelphia 2-1 on the road on Jan. 24 and beat the Red Wings 2-1 in a shootout last Sunday.

Sunday’s game also features 10 players, including five Russians, who will compete for their respective Olympic teams in Vancouver.

Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik will represent the United States, Pittsburgh's Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury will represent Canada, Washington's Tomas Fleischmann will represent the Czech Republic, Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin and Washington's Ovechkin, Semyon Varlamov and Alexander Semin will represent Russia and Washington's Nicklas Backstrom will represent Sweden.

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