The Capitals play their first game of a back-to-back against their archrival, Pittsburgh Penguins, on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center in the third matchup out of four against them this year.
The Caps are coming off of a tough 3-2 loss to Chicago on Sunday afternoon. The Capitals have still not lost back-to-back games, and hope to continue this trend tomorrow night.
Series Flashback:
The Penguins were able to win the first matchup of the season back in October. Evgeny Kuznetsov opened up the scoring in the third period, but the Penguins scored three straight goals to win the game 3-1.
Fast forward to December: the Caps were able to dominate the Penguins 4-1 in Pittsburgh. T.J. Oshie scored two goals, including a PPG with 49 seconds left to seal the deal.
Scouting report on the Penguins:
If the season were to end today, the Pittsburgh Penguins would own the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, and would have a first round matchup against the Washington Capitals. The Penguins are 10-5-0 in their last 15 games, and they have looked much better under new head coach Mike Sullivan. Sidney Crosby did not make the all-star team, but has come on of late, and now has 56 points in 59 games.
Scouting report on the Capitals:
The Washington Capitals boast a 45-12-4 record, good for 94 points, which is tops in the NHL. Alexander Ovechkin leads the league with 40 goals, and Braden Holtby leads the league with 39 wins. The fourth line will look a little different in this game with Brooks Laich being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Best of luck to you, Brooks! Daniel Winnik is expected to take Laich’s place at LW on the fourth line playing alongside Mike Richards and Jay Beagle.
Standings
Network Information
You can catch this game at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
By Gabe Meade
