In what appears to be the biggest game of their season so far, the Washington Capitals will take on their biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, at Capital One Arena tonight. The Capitals sit only three points ahead of the Penguins in the race for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. A loss could be devastating.
The good news is that the Capitals get Tom Wilson back after he completed serving a six-game suspension. Charlie Lindgren will get the start. The bad news is the team will be without TJ Oshie who met with the Capitals’ team doctor this morning. Hunter Shepard is up from AHL Hershey as Darcy Kuemper injured himself in practice.
Milestone-wise, tonight marks the 69th career game between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Congrats, gentlemen, on this huge accomplishment. (Not all milestones have to be round numbers, folks.)
Tonight’s game is airing on Monumental Sports Network. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call. Puck drop is a little after 7 pm. It’s worth noting: the road team has won every game of the season series thus far.
Lines
Washington Capitals
Scratches: Vincent Iorio, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Hunter Shepard
Pittsburgh Penguins
Scratches: Samuel Poulin, Ryan Graves, and John Ludvig
Tunnel weirdness
He's back.#ALLCAPS | @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/qZIwLB9EzP
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 4, 2024
1st Period
Mike Sullivan dropping some wisdom to the Penguins ahead of the game:
There's a lot of hockey left but not a lot of games… if that makes sense. https://t.co/pnG1sDN8pr
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 4, 2024
Charlie Lindgren will oppose Alex Nedeljkovic in net. Ovechkin-McMichael-Wilson and Fehervary-Carlson get the start.
🚨 1-0 Penguins. Uh oh. Defenseman Ryan Shea scores his first NHL goal with a snap shot. Not the start the Capitals wanted. Reilly Smith and Lars Eller collect the assists. Time of goal 1:49.
Alex Ovechkin just absolutely steamrolled a Penguins player in the crease while looking for a loose puck.
The Penguins only have one shot on goal through the first 10 minutes of the period. They lead 1-0.
🚨 2-0 Penguins. Penguins score on their second shot. PO Joseph’s point shot hits off Nick Jensen’s skate and in. Time of goal 11:03. Assists given to Kris Letang and Drew O’Connor.
On literally the very next play, Michael Bunting has a breakaway but is stopped by Charlie Lindgren’s glove hand. JOSIE!
Jesse Puljujärvi to the box for tripping Hendrix Lapierre at 13:14. Big power play for the Caps. They need to generate something here to grab back momentum.
A bit of a break in action to fix the ice along the side boards.
Penguins trail the Capitals 6 to 9 in shots on goal. The Capitals dominated in shot attempts 25 to 14 at five-on-five, generating a ridiculous 1.59 to 0.26 edge in expected goals.
2nd Period
nothing is happening – it is now a low event game.
Let’s do poetry!
oh did you hear it on the grapevine
about that grinder beck malenstyn
he blocks shots like he's dikembe
doles out hits like he's matt rempe
he's got the caps goin on a run
so serious in the face like he's never having fun
he's beck malenstyn— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 5, 2024
Erik Karlsson to the box at 5:35 for hooking Thomas Wilson. Caps to their second power play.
🚨 3-0 Penguins. Oh no oh no oh no. Michael Bunting beats Charlie Lindgren with a slap shot down the wing. Not a good one to give up. Time of goal 9:18. Assists to Valtteri Puustinen and Erik Karlsson.
Tom Wilson to the box for slashing at 10:08. Terrible penalty to take at this moment of the game.
Literally no highlights for the Caps that period.
Penguins are outshooting the Capitals 16 to 14. The Capitals are out-attempting the Pens, 41 to 28, at 5v5.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped. At worst, Capitals REALLY need at least a point out of this game.
Dylan Strome has moved up to the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Connor McMichael has been bounced down the lineup for the third.
Erik Karlsson to the box for holding Tom Wilson at 3:55. (That was actually a holding the stick penalty on Wilson or a dive by Wilson.)
The Capitals were UNGODLY bad on the 5-on-3 power play, giving up a freaking BREAKAWAY to Bryan Rust during it.
🚨 3-1 Penguins. Alex Ovechkin scores his 849th career goal on Alex Nedeljkovic. It’s a 5v5 goal and came at the end of the Capitals power play. Time of goal 6:02. Sonny Milano and Hendrix Lapierre with the assists.
That’s Ovi’s second career goal scored on Nedeljkovic.
Lindgren stops Bunting all alone in front of the net.
🚨 4-1 Penguins. Lars Eller outskates John Carlson for an empty-net goal. Just terrible. Time of goal 17:23.
Caps lose 4-1. This one hurts.
Shots were 31 to 24 WSH and 56-31 WSH in 5v5 shot-attempts.
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