Photo: Sportsnet

The Washington Capitals host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night for the final time and second of three meetings between the two teams this season. Pittsburgh pounded Washington by a score of 4-1 on November 9. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market starting at 7 PM ET.

SCHEDULE

Pittsburgh: alternates between home and road games for final eight games before NHL All-Star Break (seventh of stretch), where they have gone 3-1-2 so far

Washington: returns from three-game Western Conference road trip (1-2-0), play first game in last five against an Eastern Conference opponent and last home game before NHL All-Star Break

RECORDS

Pittsburgh: 24-15-8/.596 points percentage – fourth in Metropolitan Division, seventh in Eastern Conference; 10-10-4 on road, 21st in NHL

Washington: 25-19-6/.560 points percentage – fifth in Metropolitan Division, eighth in Eastern Conference (but ninth in points percentage); 13-8-3 at home, 11th

HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING

Pittsburgh: five-game point-streak (3-0-2) after going 3-7-2 in their previous 12

Washington: lost five of their last seven and six of their past nine in regulation since season-long nine-game point-streak (7-0-2) ended

TEAM LEADERS

Pittsburgh

• C Sidney Crosby (23 goals, 34 assists, 57 points)
• C Evgeni Malkin (30 assists, 47 points)
• D Kris Letang (24:36 TOI/game)

Notes: Crosby, 35, has two goals, nine points over five-game point-streak and four goals, 14 points in his last 10 since a four-game scoring drought; Malkin, 36, has three goals, eight points, three multi-point games in his last five and five goals, 13 points, and four multi-point outings over his last nine; Letang, 35, had two goals, four points in his return in Pittsburgh’s 7-6 overtime win vs. Florida Panthers after missing 11 games due to the death of his father/injury; LW Jake Guentzel has three goals, seven points in last five after going scoreless in eight of his previous 10 (two goals, four points), including four straight; RW Rickard Rakell has five goals, eight points in his last eight, including three goals in his last four and six points in his last five; LW Jason Zucker has five goals in his last nine; C Jeff Carter has gone scoreless in his last eight; LW Brock McGinn has gone scoreless in his last 14; D Jeff Petry has three assists over a three-game assist-streak; LW Danton Heinen ended a seven-game scoring drought with a goal, three points vs. Florida; D Marcus Pettersson has gone scoreless in 10 of his last 11 (two assists), including three straight; D Pierre-Olivier Joseph has just one assist in his last 11, including none over his last eight

Washington

• LW Alex Ovechkin (31 goals, 53 points)
• C Evgeny Kuznetsov (34 assists)
• D Dmitry Orlov (22:27 TOI/game) — excluding D John Carlson

Notes: Ovechkin has two goals, five points in last five games; Kuznetsov, 30, has four assists in his last five; Orlov, 31, has a goal, four points in his last five; C Dylan Strome has three goals, five points in his last five after going scoreless in five of his previous six; LW Conor Sheary has just one goal, one assist in last 10 and ended a seven-game scoring drought in team’s 3-2 loss at Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday; C Lars Eller has gone scoreless in his last 10; LW Anthony Mantha ended a four-game scoring drought with an assist vs. Colorado

KEY TEAM STATS

Goals-per-game:                 PIT – 3.28 (11th)          WSH – 3.16 (T-16th)

Goals-against per game:   PIT – 3.06 (16th)         WSH – 2.8 (9th)

Power Play:                          PIT – 22.2% (T-16th) WSH – 20.3% (T-19th)

Penalty Kill:                         PIT – 81.2% (9th)       WSH – 81.6% (7th)

Shots-per-game:                 PIT – 32.6 (T-10th)    WSH – 31.7 (17th)

Shots-against per game:   PIT – 33.7 (T-26th)    WSH – 30 (T-9th)

Faceoff-winning %:           PIT – 52.2% (8th)       WSH – 49.8% (17th)

5v5 Corsi-for %:                 PIT – 50.18% (19th)   WSH – 51.38% (12th)

5v5 x Goals-For %:            PIT – 52.61% (10th)   WSH – 51.79% (13th)

5v5 SCF %:                          PIT – 50.7% (17th)     WSH – 51.46% (15th)

5v5 Shooting %:                 PIT – 8.11% (21st)      WSH – 8.4% (16th)

5v5 Save %:                         PIT – .9207 (12th)     WSH – .9179 (14th)

5v5 PDO:                             PIT – 1.002 (T-14th) WSH – 1.002 (T-14th)

EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS

Pittsburgh: Casey DeSmith, 31 — 7-9-3, .900 save percentage, 3.34 goals-against average, in 20 games this season; 3-1-0, .896 save percentage, 2.45 goals-against average in four career games vs. Washington, including a 24-save (.960 save percentage) performance in November

Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 14-11-3 (T-16th in wins), .916 save percentage (T-13th), 2.57 goals-against average (12th), five shutouts (first) in 32 games; 2-3-1, .905 save percentage, 3.15 goals-against average in six career games vs. Pittsburgh, including a 24-save performance (.889 save percentage) the first time these two teams met

🗣 DARCY KUEMPER WITH HIS 30th CAREER @pepsi SHUTOUT ‼️

With tonight’s 27-save performance, Kuemper now leads the league in shutouts on the season with five under his belt. pic.twitter.com/VERa6ZnXAL

— NHL (@NHL) January 20, 2023

INJURIES/ILLNESSES

Pittsburgh

• LW Kasperi Kapanen (lower-body, will miss third straight game, out indefinitely)
• RW Josh Archibald (lower-body, 17th, day-to-day)
• D Jan Rutta (upper-body, sixth, indefinite)
• G Tristan Jarry (upper-body, second, day-to-day)

Washington

• Carlson (upper-body, 15th, indefinite)
• RW Connor Brown (ACL, 47th, indefinite)
• LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 51st, indefinite)
• C Nic Dowd (lower-body, fifth, indefinite)
• RW Tom Wilson (lower-body, first, day-to-day)

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pittsburgh

Guentzel — Crosby — Bryan Rust
Zucker — Malkin — Rakell
McGinn — Teddy Blueger — Carter
Drew O’Connor — Ryan Poehling — Heinen

Brian Dumoulin — Letang
Pettersson — Petry
Joseph — Chad Ruhwedel

DeSmith
Dustin Tokarski

Scratched: C Jonathan Gruden, D Mark Friedman

Washington

Ovechkin — Strome — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Sonny Milano — Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Mantha — Nicklas Backstrom — Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Eller — Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Martin Fehervary

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: D Alexander Alexeyev, C Aliaksei Protas

By Harrison Brown