PITTSBURGH – Put Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon face to face on the ice and their close friendship becomes irrelevant.

Every time they compete, it’s all about bragging about being better than the other. It’s the kind of fierce competition that will be on display again when MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche take on Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the PPG Paints on Tuesday (7:00 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, ALT, SNP, SNE, TVAS). Visit the arena.

MacKinnon, 29, is third in the NHL and leads the Avalanche (16-13-0) with 41 points (nine goals, 32 assists) in 29 games. Crosby, 37, leads the Penguins (12-13-4) with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists).

But it’s not just limited to NHL games.

During their off-season training in the Halifax area, the two Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia natives are never on the same team. That’s how they want it. Head-to-head, mano a mano. Let Crosby in the black jersey, MacKinnon in the blue jersey and the best man win.

“That’s how it works,” Crosby said Monday, grinning wryly. “I just think it’s good for me how quickly and skillfully he does everything he does.

“It’s good to compete against someone like that every day. So for me it’s great.”

Not to mention hockey fans get to see these two elite talents at their best whenever their teams play against each other.

However, in the four-nation clash in February, Crosby and MacKinnon will stop trying to beat each other and instead join forces to take on the opponent while representing Team Canada. They will be joined by another Halifax area native, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand.

“It’ll be cool to play with Nate and ‘Marshy,’ who are obviously from their hometown,” Crosby said. “It’s been a while since Nate and I played together at the World Championships in Prague in 2015, so it’s great to have the opportunity.”

Playing on the same team is one thing, but what about playing on the same team together?

“I would love to be on his wing,” MacKinnon said. “That would be cool. I think we would play well together.”

Growing up, MacKinnon idolized Crosby, who was eight years his senior. And as he began to dominate minor hockey in the area, word of the talented kid reached Crosby.

“I heard about him and became aware of him because he obviously wasn’t home,” Crosby said. “People talk about the young man who comes from Cole Harbor.

“He later played for the (Halifax) Mooseheads. Here, too, you hear a little more about him in your hometown. And then he started training with Andy (O’Brien). I’ve been training with Andy for a long time. And that’s how I met him. And then we started training together, skating together and all that stuff.”

Today, banners dangle from the rafters above the rink at Cole Harbor Place honoring Crosby and MacKinnon, two boys from their hometown. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan had the opportunity to test them firsthand when the Penguins held a practice there a day before their preseason game against the Ottawa Senators in Halifax in September 2023.