Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Washington Capitals 4/4/2024 - Lines, how to watch
Beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning for the Pens’ playoff hopes? Depending on the result in DC tonight, we will know..
Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (34-30-11, 79 points, 6th place Metropolitan Division) @ Washington Capitals (36-28-10, 82 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7 p.m. ET
How to Watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Monumental Sports, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: It doesn’t get any easier from here — the Pens jet back home to get ready for Saturday’s 1pm start against Tampa for their next game. Then they hit the road for matchup in Toronto on Monday night before getting to enjoy the last two-day breather of the season on Tuesday-Wednesday. Then follows a three-game home-stand starting a week from tonight against Detroit.
Opponent Track: The Capitals have been up and down recently; two losses followed by three wins, followed by one loss and then three more wins and most recently three losses in a row (0-2-1), including a 6-2 stinker against Buffalo on Tuesday in their last game out.
Season Series: The Pens won the first game between the two rivals, by a 3-0 final score way back on October 13th. The Caps won the second game by scoring four first period goals to jump out to a 4-0 lead and then held on for dear life to win 4-3 on January 2nd. Washington took round three a few weeks ago, in a 6-0 beatdown when the Jake Guentzel trade was hanging over Pittsburgh’s head.
Hidden Stat: Kudos to Pens PR, who point out that the Penguins have points in four-straight visits to Capital One Arena (3-0-1) and are 5-1-1 in their last seven road games against the Capitals.
Getting to know the Capitals
Potential lines
FORWARDS
Alex Ovechkin - Connor McMichael - Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty - Dylan Strome - Sonny Milano
Ivan Miroshnichenko - Hendrix Lapierre - Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn - Nic Dowd - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
DEFENSEMEN
Martin Fehervary / John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin / Nick Jensen
Alexei Alexeyev / Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalies: Charlie Lindgren and Darcy Kuemper
Possible scratches: TJ Oshie, Michael Sgarbossa, Vincent Iorio
IR: Nicklas Backstrom
NHLPA Player Assistance Program: Ethan Bear
—Tom Wilson is eligible to play again after serving his latest suspension (a six gamer this time around). Washington went 3-2-1 without him.
—As of yesterday morning, the plan was to play Kuemper tonight and use Lindgren in Washington’s game tomorrow against Carolina. Kuemper left practice yesterday early after tweaking something, but declared himself fine. Worth keeping an eye on to see if he tries to play tonight and whether or not he’ll be 100%.
—The news was less optimistic about Oshie, who did not practice yesterday after missing Tuesday night’s game with an undisclosed injury. He hasn’t not been officially ruled out to play as of yet.
Player stats
—Strome is vying to be the first non-Backstrom/Ovechkin player to lead Washington in scoring since John Carlson in 2019-20.
For all many of the marbles
This isn’t an official must win for either team, however it is all but mandatory for the Penguins to earn two points tonight to keep whatever playoff hopes they have alive. It’s a huge game with a 30% swing for the Caps if the game ends in regulation. A win would set them up really well for the playoffs but a loss throws them back into the pack of teams chasing them (NYI, DET, PIT). Should make for a playoff-adajecent atmosphere on the ice between the two rivals who have a lot to gain — and even more to lose.
As Gene Wilder said in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: “the suspense is terrible, I hope it’ll last.”
For that, the Penguins need to win. Simple as that.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Drew O’Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Reilly Smith - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen
Emil Bemstrom - Jeff Carter - Jesse Puljujarvi
DEFENSEMEN
P.O. Joseph / Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry
Potential Scratches: John Ludvig, Ryan Graves (concussion)
IR: Matt Nieto (knee surgery), Jansen Harkins (hand injury), Noel Acciari (lower body injury)
—The Pens were off the ice yesterday as they finish up their road trip. Rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist was sent back to the AHL, so Pittsburgh has the cap space to call up Sam Poulin or another forward from the AHL if they so choose.
—Jarry was slated to start on Tuesday before getting sick, Nedeljkovic has now started the last six games and is doing well. But tonight would mark playing three games in four days and five in the last week if the Pens decide to go back to their new-found hot goalie.
Sid and Ovi, one more round
Ovechkin is under contract for two more seasons after this and looking like he will need both of them to run down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record. So we probably have a couple more years of Sid/Ovi, but it’s getting to the point where you can probably count on two hands the number of potential games the two stars of the generation will be on the ice together (barring a future playoff series) before it becomes a part of history.
From Pens PR:
The 2022-23 season marks the 19th season that generational talents Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin face off. The two have taken part in 68 head-to-head matchups, where Crosby and the Penguins have gone 39-25-4 against Ovechkin and the Capitals. Below are their stats when facing each other in the regular season:
Player GP G A PTS
Sidney Crosby 68 31 59 90
Alex Ovechkin 68 36 30 66Not only is the Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry one of the NHL’s best, but it’s also the league’s longest-standing rivalry. Crosby and Ovechkin are the only two players in the NHL to play for the same team since the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
Number of the day: 4
Lars Eller is closing in on 400 points today as the calendar reads 4/4/24. Let’s all choose to believe that’s an omen. Pittsburgh would be thrilled if Eller could snatch a couple of points to get there against his former team tonight. Again from Pens PR:
Lars Eller enters tomorrow’s game just two points shy of 400 in his career (177G-221A). Born in Rodovre, Denmark, Eller is looking to become the third Danish player in NHL history to achieve 400 or more points in a career.
Most Points Among Danish-Born Players, NHL History
Player GP G A PTS
Frans Nielsen 925 167 306 473
Nikolaj Ehlers 598 198 252 450
Lars Eller 1,029 177 221 398
Oliver Bjorkstrand 537 151 180 321
Mikkel Boedker 709 118 209 327Selected in the first round (13th overall) by St. Louis in the 2007 NHL Draft, Eller would become the 15th player from his draft class to reach 400 career points.
Other milestones and streaks
- Crosby is up to 997 career assists and is on a six-game point streak (6G+9A) that has him as the league’s hottest player right now
- Bryan Rust is also riding a six-game point streak (5G+4A)
- Rickard Rakell has 199 career goals
- Michael Bunting is two assists away from 100 in his career. He also has 29 total assists this season, making him one helper away from cracking the 30 plateau for the second time in his career
- Evgeni Malkin has 59 points this season, one away from cracking the 60 mark for the 13th time in his career
- Jeff Carter is one goal shy of the 10-goal plateau. If he gets there it’ll be the 19th time in his career to accomplish that, something only 25 other players in NHL history have done
- Tristan Jarry is one win away from his fifth straight 20+ win season