Games

Pittsburgh at Washington Game Preview: Capitals Open 2023-24 Season Friday Night Against Rival Penguins

By Della Young·

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington Capitals hockey is finally here, and this team has something to prove. 

The Capitals open up the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena in a classic rivalry matchup. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby will also renew their historic rivalry for the 19th time. 

“It’s always been nice to play against him. He’s a top player in the league. The rivalry between me and Sid, Caps and Pens, it’s always been at the top of the league for years,” Ovechkin said.

Washington Capitals Versus Pittsburgh Penguins – Looking Back At Their Past Opening Day Matchups

A big point of emphasis for the Capitals heading into the new year is to get out to a good start, along with being more consistent on home ice. Washington was 18-16-7 at Capital One Arena last season, and it opens up the regular season with three straight home games. 

“You never want to be playing catch up at important parts. Mid-season or when the season starts getting tough, you don’t want to start playing catch up at that point,” Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen said. “Especially playing in front of home ice. You have to have a winning record at home and that’s something that we haven’t always had in the past, but that’s also going to be a big emphasis for our team this year.”

Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery will become the youngest head coach in the NHL at 41 years old on Friday. The new bench boss has utilized the word “pace” and how everyone needs to be on the same page.

“We want to make sure that our game is in order, and it’s sometimes challenging at the beginning of the year,” Carbery said on Thursday. “You can see it all around the league of getting your group on the same page and playing the way you would like to be structurally is a challenge.”

Charlie Lindgren will be between the pipes for Washington after Darcy Kuemper and his wife Sydney welcomed their first child last night. The Capitals recalled Clay Stevenson from Hershey to backup Lindgren. In doing so, the Caps sent down Aliaksei Protas to Hershey in order to make room for Stevenson. Lindgren will be facing off against Tristan Jarry. 

Capitals Recall Clay Stevenson, Loan Aliaksei Protas To Hershey

Here are tonight’s projected lines:

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie

Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Matthew Phillips

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Anthony Mantha

Rasmus Sandin-John Carlson

Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Lucas Johansen-Nick Jensen

Charlie Lindgren

Clay Stevenson


Pittsburgh is coming off a disappointing 4-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks, a game where it had a 2-0 lead. 

The Penguins are in a similar situation as the Capitals as they are still trying to compete for a Stanley Cup with the same veteran core. Pittsburgh made the biggest splash of the year, acquiring three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. 

Lars Eller will make his return to the nation’s capital. Eller spent seven seasons with Washington and scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final that gave the Caps their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. 

Here are the Penguins’ lines courtesy of Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m., at Capital One Arena.

By Jacob Cheris