If the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals can keep this up, it's going to be one heck of a series.

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin both made their marks on Game 1 of the second-round matchup, but neither had a hand in the winner.

The Penguins temporarily stole home-ice advantage away from the Capitals with a 3-2 victory in D.C., and while it wasn't a high-scoring affair, there were plenty of captivating moments in the series opener.

Here's what we'll remember from another instant classic between the two rival clubs:

A Fleury of saves to preserve the win

Marc-Andre Fleury came up large in the final minutes, somehow managing to keep the puck out during an extended scramble in front of his net.

Fleury has an interesting definition of the word "fun."

Kuznetsov breaks out the eagle celly again

We've seen it before, but it never gets old.

Evgeny Kuznetsov busted out his patented bird celebration after notching the tying goal about eight minutes into the third period.

Bonino buries winner on partial breakaway

Braden Holtby probably should have had this one, but Nick Bonino isn't going to have much sympathy for him after cruising in and netting the eventual game-winner with seven-plus minutes to go.

Crosby's double dip

No goals were scored in the first period, but Crosby changed that quickly after the intermission, burying a feed from Jake Guentzel 12 seconds into the second frame, then taking a pass from Patric Hornqvist and depositing his second.

Ovechkin answers back

Resisting the temptation to play up the Crosby-Ovechkin narrative is tough when both players are factors in a playoff game against each other, and that's exactly what happened Thursday night.

Ovechkin fired a rocket past Fleury late in the second period to cut the Penguins' lead in half.

Letterman and his enormous beard appear

Talk show legend David Letterman was on hand, as was his grizzly-looking facial hair. Capitals organist Bruce Anderson even played Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" for the noted Zevon fanatic during Letterman's introduction.

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In the New York Rangers' eyes, Game 1 should've ended differently.

Head coach Alain Vigneault spoke to reporters postgame after dropping a 2-1 decision to the Ottawa Senators, where he said he felt the winning goal by Erik Karlsson shouldn't have counted due to a potential icing call.

"We felt that on their winning goal there should have been an icing," Vigneault said. "When we look at it and look at the angles that we get we think it should have been icing, but at the end of the day you got to play and you got to do more than we did tonight to win."

It's a questionable play that occurred with 4:51 remaining in regulation when Karlsson fired a shot that looked to be tipped into the Rangers' zone by forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau - the Rangers obviously arguing that Pageau didn't touch the puck.

Related - Watch: Karlsson scores game-winner off Lundqvist's head from impossible angle

Ultimately, the play would go uncalled and 50 seconds later Karlsson put the winning goal past Henrik Lundqvist.

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Quality of fans over quantity might be what the Ottawa Senators are going for in the second round of the playoffs.

That is, because despite a roaring crowd that saw the team prevail 2-1 over the New York Rangers thanks to a wild Erik Karlsson winner, the Canadian Tire Centre was surprisingly under-filled with an announced attendance of just 16,744, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Related - Watch: Karlsson scores game-winner off Lundqvist's head from impossible angle

With the arena boasting a capacity of 18,572 the number means there were nearly 2,000 empty seats for Game 1.

Oddly, 16,744 was the Senators average attendance during the regular season, accounting for 87.4 percent capacity, ranking 21st among all 30 NHL clubs.

The number is further interesting since all three home games in the opening round against the Boston Bruins saw attendance figures over capacity with an average of 18,846.

Obviously the Senators would like those numbers to be higher, but at the end of the day they lead the series 1-0 and they'll take that.

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Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was very blunt when asked for his analysis of Washington's 3-2 Game 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ovechkin is obviously displeased with the result of the game, but he himself turned in a solid performance. The Great Eight scored one goal on three shots and provided a physical presence with six hits.

Ovechkin is looking to accomplish two firsts in this series: advance to the Conference Finals for the first time in his career, and defeat Sidney Crosby in the playoffs for the first time in his career.

There's no doubt this series will have an effect on Ovechkin's legacy when it's all said and done. Whether it will be positive or negative remains to be seen.

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Erik Karlsson continues to provide magic for the Ottawa Senators.

From an impossible angle and off Henrik Lundqvist's helmet, Karlsson gave his club the lead in the waning minutes of regulation. Lundqvist had stood on his head all night, so it's quite ironic that Karlsson was able to bank one off it for his fifth-career playoff goal.

The Sens held on for the 2-1 victory.

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Erik Karlsson continues to provide magic for the Ottawa Senators.

From an impossible angle and off Henrik Lundqvist's helmet, Karlsson gave his club the lead in the waning minutes of regulation. Lundqvist had stood on his head all night, so it's quite ironic that Karlsson was able to bank one off it for his fifth-career playoff goal.

The Sens held on for the 2-1 victory.

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Flashes of 2009.

After Sidney Crosby scored two quick goals to open the second period Thursday, Alex Ovechkin mitigated the damage by firing a rocket of his own later in the period.

Related - Watch: Crosby strikes twice in less than a minute

The goal was Ovechkin's fourth of the postseason.

Could we see another playoff game like in 2009 when both Crosby and Ovechkin tallied hat tricks? Here's to hoping.

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Fresh off pushing the top-seeded Washington Capitals to their limit in the first round of the NHL playoffs, members of the Toronto Maple Leafs including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, James van Riemsdyk, and Frederik Andersen decided to take some batting practice at Rogers Centre.

While a number of the Leafs looked comfortable at the dish, Matthews may have been the most impressive, with the left-handed hitting superstar crushing a ball into the right-field stands.

Not too bad of a swing there, Mr. Matthews.

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Leave it to Sidney Crosby to put his mark on a 0-0 game in a hurry.

The Pittsburgh Penguins star scored two quick goals to give his club a 2-0 lead over the Washington Capitals early in the second period of Game 1 Thursday night.

Crosby broke into the Capitals' zone on a 2-on-1 with Jake Guentzel, who fed him for a pinpoint wrister that opened the scoring 12 seconds into the second period.

Crosby tied his own franchise record for fastest goal to start a second period in a playoff game, a feat he previously accomplished in 2008, according to TSN.

Patric Hornqvist then secured a rebound and found the Penguins captain, who potted his second goal in a 52-second span.

Hornqvist picked up assists on both markers, and the goals were Crosby's third and fourth of this postseason.

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David Letterman has one hell of a playoff beard.

The former King of Late Night took in Game 1 Thursday between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins where he - and his incredible beard - cheered on the hometown Capitals.

While he may be a Capitals fan, it's no question he would clearly fit in more in San Jose.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

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