Penguins make their second and final visit to Washington tonight
11-9 Penguins (9-6-2) at Capitals (8-7-1)
TV Coverage: NBC Sports Washington
Last game for Pittsburgh: 3-1 win vs Arizona
- Evgeni Makin-goal and 2 assists
- Phil Kessel-goal and 2 assists
- Justin Schultz-goal
- Matt Murray-24 saves
Last game for Washington: 3-1 lost at Buffalo
- Alexander Ovechkin-goal
- Phillip Grubauer-29 saves
Penguins preview-Pittsburgh is playing the first of a back-to back. The Penguins power play comes into the game on a tear. Going into tonight’s game it ranks 3rd in the league at 27.7%. Phil Kessel, who leads the Penguins with 19 points, has scored 11 of those 19 points on the power play. Right behind Kessel in power play scoring, is Evgeni Malkin with 9 and defenseman Kris Letang with 8. Center Sidney Crosby is third on the team with 13 points (5G-8A), but is a -12, so far.
Capitals preview-Washington begins a stretch in November, in which they play seven of the next 10 at home. Pittsburgh beat Washington back on October 11, 3-2. Washington is the complete of Pittsburgh when it comes to the power play, as they are at 18%, which ranks them 16th. With his goal in the lost to the Sabres, Alexander Ovechkin has scored in three consecutive games.
Braden Holtby goes back between the pipes tonight for the Caps. He brings a 8-3-0 record along with a 2.62 goals against average and a 0.921 save percentage to the game tonight against Matt Murray. Murray has a 9-3-1, 2.90, 0.906 mark heading into this tilt with the Capitals.
We all know to watch the stars on both sides of this game, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Malkin, Letang, Crosby. But the key tonight will be the secondary scoring for the Capitals. Watch for Chandler Stephenson as he has made a nice impact on the Caps since his recall from AHL Hershey.
