pittsburgh last won the stanley cup in 2016-17.
in what year did pittsburgh last win the stanley cup?
2016-17
more recently, with the drafting and emergence of alexander ovechkin in washington, and sidney crosby in pittsburgh, the rivalry has heated up again, with controversial comments that alexander semin made about crosby in the media and physical altercations taking place between ovechkin and malkin during games. one of the best series to date between the teams was the 2009 eastern conference semifinals, in which the capitals took a 2–0 series lead before letting it go once again to be downed in 7 games, ending with a 6–2 game 7 loss at the verizon center. just like in 1991 and 1992, the penguins defeated the capitals in the playoffs en route to the stanley cup. the two teams faced off at the 2011 nhl winter classic hosted in pittsburgh at heinz field, with the capitals emerging victorious 3–1, and a hit in the game resulting in crosby missing nearly all of two seasons with concussion-related issues. the capitals and penguins completed their second playoff confrontation in the ovechkin-crosby era in the 2016 stanley cup playoffs with the penguins winning in six games, again preceding pittsburgh's fourth stanley cup title. in 2017, the capitals and penguins met again in the second round. pittsburgh gained a 3–1 series lead only to see washington win the next two games. the penguins would shut out the capitals at verizon center in washington to advance to the eastern conference finals and eventually the franchise's fifth stanley cup. the two teams would again face off in the 2018 stanley cup playoffs in the second round for the third consecutive year. the washington capitals would defeat the pittsburgh penguins in six games to advance to the eastern conference final, and eventually win the stanley cup.
national hockey league rivalries
the 1998 stanley cup finals was the championship series of the national hockey league's (nhl) 1997–98 season, and the culmination of the 1998 stanley cup playoffs. it was contested by the western conference champion and defending stanley cup champion detroit red wings and the eastern conference champion washington capitals. it was the 105th year of the stanley cup being contested. the series was the capitals' first appearance in a stanley cup final since the franchise's inception in 1974. the red wings won the series for the second year in a row, four games to none. it was the wings' ninth stanley cup, and the most recent time when a finals concluded with a sweep (as of 2019). this was also the last time until that a stanley cup finals ended after an nba finals in the same season had concluded. detroit coach scotty bowman won his eighth stanley cup in that capacity (having previously done so with the montreal canadiens in , , , , and , the pittsburgh penguins in , and the wings the previous year), tying him with former canadiens coach toe blake for the record of most cups won by a coach (which he would break when he helped the red wings win the 2002 cup).
1998 stanley cup finals