The Washington Capitals held morning skate today in Pittsburgh, in preparation for their game against the Penguins tonight. The Washington Capitals conclude their three-game road trip tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center. Puck drop is 7:00 PM.
(Photo: @ikhurshudyan)
Morning Skate
Practice lines at this morning’s skate:
Offensive Lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Beagle-Galiev
Burakovsky-Laich-Wilson
Defensive Pairs:
Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Chorney
Caps’ 2nd power play unit included Kuznetsov, Williams, Chimera, Niskanen, Galiev.
It looks like Chris Brown, Michael Latta and Aaron Ness will be the healthy scratches for tonight’s game. Former Washington Capital Eric Fehr will play tonight for Pittsburgh.
Capitals @ Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (15-10-3) will debut a new head coach in tonight’s tilt against the Washington Capitals. The Penguins fired Mike Johnston and assistant Gary Agnew on Saturday morning, Just 18 months after giving the position to Johnston. Johnston was immediately replaced by Mike Sullivan. Sullivan was head coach of the Boston Bruins from 2003-06 and was serving as the coach of the Penguins’ affiliate in the American Hockey League.
The Capitals (20-6-2) are 10-4-1 in their last 15 games at Pittsburgh, outscoring the Penguins 50-38. Braden Holtby made a season-high 35 saves on Saturday at Tampa Bay to earn his 18th win of the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a goal on Saturday against Tampa Bay, marking his 10th point in his last 10 games (11/21-12/12: 3g, 7a).
News and Notes
- Eric Fehr said he had a couple of Caps over “for supper” last night, as per Isabelle Khurshudyan.
- Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby has earned a point in a career-high 11 consecutive games (10-0-1), marking the longest points streak by a Capitals goaltender since Jose Theodore during the 2009-10 season (1/13/10-3/24/10: 17-0-2).
- The Capitals are 9-3-1 on the road this season and rank tied for fourth in the NHL in road wins.
- The Caps will return to practice at Kettler tomorrow (Tuesday) at 12:30 PM.
Standings
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