Jamie Squire, Getty Images Sidney Crosby doesn't have to look very far to see Alexander Ovechkin anymore. Click photo for larger image. Scouting Report Matchup: New York Islanders vs. Penguins, 7:08 p.m. today, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WWSW-FM (94.5). Probable goaltenders: Sebastien Caron for Penguins. Rick DiPietro for Islanders. Penguins: Are coming off 5-3 win against New York Rangers. ... Have lost to Islanders in shootout three times this season. ... D Sergei Gonchar has 36 points (5 goals, 31 assists) in his past 32 games. Islanders: Are coming off 4-3 loss to Toronto. ... Have been eliminated from playoff contention. ... DiPietro is three wins from tying Chris Osgood's team record of 32 in a season. Hidden stat: Each team is 5-4-1 in its past 10 games. Related articles Penguins Notebook: Surovy takes hockey over knee operation The 5 hole: A five-step trip through the stars and numbers of the past week

It was around December that it started to look as if Washington's Alex Ovechkin would pull away from the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and win the Calder Trophy.

Considering Crosby's late-season flourish, assuming that Ovechkin will win could be a rookie mistake.

Crosby, the first overall pick in the 2005 draft, is close on the heels of Ovechkin in terms of statistics. He has 97 points. Ovechkin, the first overall selection in 2004, has 102. Each has played in 78 games with three to go.

"For me and him, it's a healthy competition," said Crosby, who, predictably, is taking a low-key approach to the rookie of the year competition. "I think it's good we're both having healthy starts in our first year in the NHL, but our job is to play and it's for everyone else to talk about it."

It's easy to talk about Crosby's first pro season. He leads the Penguins in goals, assists, points and a few other categories, and he has had a monster stretch drive for a team that doesn't have the motivation of fighting for a playoff berth.

He has 10 points in his past four games and 17 in his past seven. His four-point game Thursday in a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers made him the youngest player in NHL history -- 18 years, 351 days -- to reach 97 points.

If he can get another three points over the Penguins' final three games, he will be the youngest to reach 100.

"I heard people before the season predicting that if he had 60 points, it would be a good year, so he went beyond everyone's expectations," Penguins center Ryan Malone said.

But has he gone beyond everyone's evaluation of Ovechkin?

One difference that could affect the Calder Trophy vote is age. Ovechkin is 20, two years older than Crosby.

It would be difficult to imagine a team asking more of an 18-year-old than the Penguins have gotten from Crosby.

	Too close to call How the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin and the Penguins' Sidney Crosby match up in their rookie seasons. Ovechkin Stat Crosby 78 GP 78 50 Goals 38 52 Assists 59 102 Points 97 52 PIM 104 +2 +/- -3 3 SH 0 21 PP 16 5 GW 5

"I don't think so," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "I know he's not making a big deal out of it, but a hundred points on a team where he's had different linemates all year and he's been consistent the whole year -- that's a hard thing to do in this league. He's definitely having a strong finish."

Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux is the only Penguin who has won the Calder Trophy. He did it in 1984-85 after he reached 100 points in the season finale on a team that did not make the playoffs. He was 19.

The problem this season is deciding on the criteria to measure the top rookies.

Ovechkin has reached the lofty plateaus of 50 goals and 100 points, but there are other ways to compare the two.

Ovechkin is third overall in scoring, Crosby eighth. Each has five game-winning goals. Ovechkin logs slightly more ice time and takes more shots. Crosby takes faceoffs regularly and wins 45.4 percent of them. Crosby has three overtime goals to Ovechkin's two. Ovechkin has three game-deciding shootout goals to Crosby's one.

There also are some intangibles to compare. Crosby has developed a reputation for sniping at the referees, which partly accounts for him having 104 penalty minutes, double Ovechkin's number. Ovechkin, a winger, has developed a reputation for being a showman who score highlight-reel goals but does not play both ends as well as Crosby, a center.

"Both of them are obviously going to be great players in the league for a long time," Malone said. "It's something to see. There's so many different ways you can twist things around, so I think everything's up in the air. You almost wish they could share the award, but you just have to wait and see what happens."

Crosby suggested that other rookies stand out in what seems to be a bumper crop. That group would include Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf and New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

"There's a lot of other good rookies out there," Crosby said. "Those two guys stick out. They've made good impressions with their team."

In other years, perhaps Phaneuf and Lundqvist would be top contenders for the Calder Trophy, but Crosby and Ovechkin likely are the front-runners.

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar is as biased as anyone with the Penguins, but his loyalties go in both directions.

"It's hard for me to judge because on one side, Sidney is my teammate and I want to see him do well, but then [Ovechkin] is my countryman," said Gonchar, who played against Ovechkin in the Russian Super League last season during the NHL lockout.

"It's kind of too bad that you have the two of them the same year. They both deserve it. It's a close race. I really can't predict who's going to win."

The Calder Trophy, decided by a vote of hockey writers, will be announced at the league's annual awards night June 22 in Vancouver.

Then the argument over the top rookie can be settled.

Or not.