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Sidney Crosby makes his second appearance of the season in Washington tonight in an always entertaining matchup of Metro division foes as the 15-12-6 Pittsburgh Penguins continue to try and get some traction against a hot Capitals team having won 5 straight games and winners of 12 of their last 14 games. The Capitals played the second end of a back-to-back in Pittsburgh’s home opener on October 4th where the teams combined for 13 goals in a spirited affair with the Pens winning 7-6 in OT. The Penguins played well in the second game on November 7th but it was the Capitals winning 2-1 on a TJ Oshie goal late in the game after he returned from injury earlier in the game...twice.
The Penguins have struggled at times this season but seemed to have turned a corner with an 8-4-2 record over their last 12 games, though they will be entering the game tonight coming off a 4-2 loss to Anaheim on Monday night. Inconsistent play has mired the Penguins all season with only a 4-game winning as it’s longest of the year and has only won more than two in a row just once.
A couple of newcomers will be in the line-up since the last time the two teams faced each other as the Penguins, looking for some spark, made a couple of trades. Acquiring sturdy forward Tanner Pearson from LA cost them forward Carl Hagelin (who I won’t be missing in a Pens uniform) then they sent forward Daniel Sprong to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Pearson has 4 goals and 6 points as he looks to provide some size up front for the Penguins.
The Penguins scoring race is tied at 36 points as all of Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, and Evgeni Malkin have hit that mark. Crosby leads in goals with 15 and Malkin’s 25 assists pace the Pens set-up points. Malkin is having a tough campaign defensively, as his -14 is the worse on the team by 6. Contrast that with Crosby’s +9 and something is awry.
It seems Pittsburgh’s goaltending duo has switched places as Matt Murray has struggled enough that incumbent Casey DeSmith looks to have taken over the starting job for now. Murray has struggled and has been pulled four times this season and with Pittsburgh needing points they have been going with DeSmith more. His numbers are solid with a 10-6-4 record with a 2.24 GAA and very healthy .926 SV%.
Alex Ovechkin will try and extend a career personal best 14-game point scoring streak and become the first player to reach the 30 goal plateau this season as he leads the NHL with 29 goals. With 10 goals in his last six games, the Russian Rocket is having a career year so far. At 33 years-old it seems he is actually getting better as he becomes more inventive with his scoring as we see him crash the net, score off the rush, and use that one-timer that helped him score two consecutive hattricks last week. He leads the Capitals in points with 43 placing him && in NHL overall leaders.
Alex Ovechkin:â â
— Dan Clark (@DanClarkSports) December 16, 2018
• Points in each of his last 14 games
• 17 goals, 6 assists in this stretch
• 29 goals, 14 assists on the season
• On pace for 74 goals in 2018-19
• Caps have won 12 of the 14 games
Appreciate greatness. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/lz5qPie5yw
Evgeny Kuznetsov looks to add to his own streak as the swift forward has now registered at least one assist in 8 straight games and looks to have fully recovered from his concussion since his return. A very good sign for the Capitals. He only needs 4 points for a career 300.
Washington continues to get scoring from down the lineup including Brett Connolly who has 3 goals and 7 points his last 7 games. On pace for a career year in points, Connolly has been able to produce on many lines this year and is responsible defensively. The 4th line of Nic Dowd, Travis Boyd and Dmitrij Jaskin have been a great combo lately with all playing well on both sides of the puck. Boyd was held pointless in the Caps last game for the first time in four games.
Andre Burakovsky will be a healthy scratch for the 4th game in a row. With the Caps playing well, it’s a tough line-up to crack. Trade rumors continue to swirl around the enigmatic forward. Braden Holtby will get the start for Washington.
Caps’ expected lineup vs. Pens
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) December 19, 2018
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Connolly-Eller-DSP
Jaskin-Dowd-Boyd
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Siegenthaler-Bowey
Holtby
Burakovsky, Stephenson and Lewington will be the scratches.
Game Time is 8 PM EST at Capital One Arena.
Capital Gain:
Once thought impossible…..
Can Ovechkin catch Gretzky? Are we all insane? Read this great column from @barrysvrluga https://t.co/6q0H77pmh2
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) December 15, 2018