The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins will square off in one of the NHL’s first games back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break on Saturday afternoon. The nationally televised matchup will feature the restart of Alex Ovechkin’s chase of the all-time goals record, and his closest rival, Sidney Crosby, will dress for Pittsburgh despite reported injury concerns.
Per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Crosby’s availability was revealed by Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan pregame. The 37-year-old centerman had missed two games for Pittsburgh with an upper-body injury before the break but then played in all four of Team Canada’s games at the tournament.
Crosby has 58 points (17g, 41a) in 55 games for the Penguins this season. He has two points (2a) in two games against the Capitals.
Lineup updates from Mike Sullivan:
▪️ Alex Nedeljkovic starts in goal.
▪️ Sidney Crosby will play.
▪️ Bryan Rust is out of the lineup due to illness, not injury. "He got sick last night, and he's not feeling well, so we're going to hold him out."— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 22, 2025
Meanwhile, on the Capitals side, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery announced that Logan Thompson will be in net. Thompson gets the first start back for Washington after also starting their last game before the break, a 5-4 shootout defeat to the Utah Hockey Club.
Thompson won his previous start 4-1 against the Penguins this season, stopping 18 of 19 shots he faced at Capital One Arena on January 18. The 27-year-old netminder is 24-2-5 with a 2.23 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, and two shutouts this year.
Washington is expected to go with the same lineup they finished with against Utah. The lone flip there is Taylor Raddysh and Andrew Mangiapane swapping spots in the bottom six forward group.
Projected lineup against PIT
The Capitals come into the game at the top of the NHL’s Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division with their 36-11-8 record. Pittsburgh is 25 points behind Washington and six points out of the second wild card playoff position in the East with their 23-25-9 record.
