Can you be more specific about what you mean by "defensive numbers?"
I do think Crosby has gotten overrated defensively. I think he was becoming a strong two-way player around 2009 and 2010, but he has regressed since.
Really across the board.
Ovechkin
07/08: 0.737 GA/20, 9.056 SA/20, 15.944 CA/20, 58.1% OZS%
08/09: 0.883 GA/20, 9.637 SA/20, 17.851 CA/20, 58.3% OZS%
09/10: 0.586 GA/20, 9.170 SA/20, 17.166 CA/20, 55.6% OZS%
10/11: 0.666 GA/20, 9.453 SA/20, 18.369 CA/20, 51.6% OZS%
Crosby
07/08: 0.738 GA/20, 10.036 SA/20, 19.005 CA/20, 49.8% OZS%
08/09: 0.830 GA/20, 10.268 SA/20, 19.436 CA/20, 56.8% OZS%
09/10: 0.968 GA/20, 9.301 SA/20, 18.161 CA/20, 56.7% OZS%
10/11: 0.772 GA/20, 10.510 SA/20, 18.937 CA/20, 47.0% OZS%
The fancy numbers aren't there for 05/06 and 06/07, but on the outset Ovechkin's look better in 05/06 and Crosby's look better in 06/07, although I would wager that a large part of that is the Capitals just sucking in 06/07, and I don't think the people how believe in Crosby as a defensive forward think he emerged as such that early. Anyways, this isn't to say that Ovechkin is a great defensive forward (although I think his faults are exaggerated) or that Crosby is bad defensive forward (although there are some people giving him too much credit in that aspect), but I think a lot of this, including Ovechkin's defensive numbers in the past 3 years, is at the mercy of the rest of the team. And of course, I think that goes beyond Crosby and Ovechkin.