Capitals 5, Penguins 4 (OT): It’s quite possible that this was the biggest regular season NHL game in years — a nationally-televised matinee on Super Bowl Sunday, featuring the two (three, if you include Evgeni Malkin) best players in the game and the defending champs versus the hottest team in the world. And the Capitals won, scoring four unanswered goals to push their winning streak to 14 straight. A game like this deserves a few toasts. Shall we?

Here’s to Alexander Ovechkin. Not only did the best player in the National Hockey League score a hat trick (shockingly, the Capitals’ first all year) and win the duel against Sidney Crosby (who scored twice, and admittedly looked really, really good at times), but he generally just looked unstoppable, especially as the game went on. He even broke the goal cam! Ovie, as any good captain will, tipped his hand to the fans, saying, “the crowd was just pushing us in the third. It was sick.”

Speaking of which, here’s to yesterday’s rabid mass in the stands — based on the volume at the Verizon Center, we can hardly wait to see what kind of sound is produced in the playoffs. Rock the red, indeed.

Here’s to Mike Knuble. One of our favorite gritty forwards poked in the game winning goal, but we really appreciated how he immediately went after Pittsburgh’s Craig Adams after Adams gave Ovechkin a head-first introduction to the boards in the first period. Knuble was assessed an instigator and misconduct penalties — but to us, it was nothing more than a teammate making sure that the Pens weren’t going to get free runs at his captain’s head. It’s hardly surprising that when a consummate pro like Knuble scores a goal this season, the Caps are 15-1-1.