The Washington Capitals welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to Capital One Arena on Thursday night. Both teams come in with the same record in the previous five games having won four out of five. There is a tight race for first place in the Mass Mutual Eastern Division.
The team has been playing stupendous defense and is clearing the zone limiting scoring chances and time in the offensive zone of opponents. This allows the team to spend more time in the neutral and offensive zones.
The goaltending has been excellent as well. The team has been able to count on both Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanachek so it doesn’t seem to matter who starts. They can play one and rest the other and vice versa for the next game and know they’re in good hands.
The team will be without Alex Ovechkin again tonight as he is nursing an injury. The Capitals can clinch a playoff berth with a win tonight
