Penguins

Penguins Game 2, Rivalry Renewed; Notes, Lines & How to Watch vs. Capitals

Published

2 months ago

October 13, 2023

Pittsburgh Penguins game, lines, Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Pittsburgh Penguins (0-1-) face the Washington Capitals (0-0-0) in a dwindling number of head-to-head matchups between the faces of a hockey generation, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. The game will be the season and home opener for the Capitals, who are just one of a few teams to play only one game this week.

The puck will drop just after 7:30 ET at Capital One Arena.

The Penguins drew the ire and fears of a fanbase Tuesday when they squandered a 2-0 lead to the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, but Crosby and linemate Jake Guentzel were also a minus-2.

The game was also the Penguins debut of Erik Karlsson, who had two shots on goal. Evgeni Malkin led the Penguins with six shots on goal, and Noel Acciari had five hits.

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Tristan Jarry will likely start for the Penguins, and Charlie Lindgren is expected for the Capitals. There are no injuries to report.

Expected Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:

Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust

Reilly Smith-Evgeni Malkin-Rickard Rakell

Drew O’Connor-Lars Eller-Jansen Harkins

Matt Nieto-Noel Acciari-Jeff Carter

Defense:

Ryan Graves-Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson-Erik Karlsson

P.O Joseph-Chad Ruhwedel

Goalie:

Tristan Jarry

Expected Washington Capitals Lines

Alex Ovechkin-Nick Backstrom-T.J. Oshie

Connor McMichael-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas

Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Anthony Mantha

Defense:

Rasmus Sandin-John Carlsson

Lucas Johanse-Nick Jensen

Martin Fehervary-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goalie:

Darcy Kuemper

Penguins Special Teams

Penguins Power Play: 0-for-2. 0%. 13th.

Penguins Penalty Kill: 4-for-4. 100%. T-1st.

Capitals Power Play: 0-0

Capitals Penalty Kill:0-0

Game Notes

The Penguins have points in three straight games against the Capitals (2-0-1). A point tonight would give the Penguins their first four-game point streak against them since Jan. 22, 2012-Mar. 11, 2014 (8-0-0).

Since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign, no team has defeated Washington more than Pittsburgh (20 wins).

Jake Guentzel has 26 points (11-15-26) against the Capitals with two game-winning goals in 23 games. He has points in six-straight games vs. the Capitals (3-6-9) dating back to Nov. 13, 2021.

Bryan Rust scored the game’s first goal on Tuesday and has now scored a season-opening goal for the third straight season. Per NHLPR, Kevin Stevens is the only player in Penguins history with a longer streak (4x from 1989-90 to 1992-93).

The game marks the 19th season in which Crosby and Ovechkin have faced each other. The Penguins are 38-23-4. Crosby has 86 points (28-58-86) in those 65 games, while Ovechkin has 63 (34-29-63).