Penguins at Capitals
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals traditionally are two of the higher scoring teams in the NHL, but a few decorated players are enduring considerable offensive woes. Penguins superstar captain Sidney Crosby, who is as decorated as they come, aims to end a nine-game goal drought on Friday as the Metropolitan Division rivals clash at Capital One Arena.
"There's been some chances there, some posts and things like that, but I can generate a little bit more," said Crosby, who will play in his 800th career game on Friday. The two-time Hart Trophy recipient notched his 61st point (20 goals, 41 assists) in 42 career games versus Washington with an assist in Pittsburgh's 3-2 win on Oct. 11, and gashed the Capitals for two goals and five assists in the Penguins' seven-game, second-round series victory last spring. Washington has a pair of stellar forwards mired in point droughts, as T.J. Oshie has failed to dent the scoresheet in eight games while Nicklas Backstrom has zero points in his last seven. "I realize that I've got to be better and I've got to create more chances, produce and be one of the leading guys on the team," Backstrom said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVAS, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, NBCSN Washington
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (9-6-2): Patric Hornqvist scored to seal the win in Game 7 versus the Capitals last spring and had a power-play goal and assist in his season debut against Washington at Capital One Arena. "We have a lot of good memories there from last year, when we won that Game 7. This year, we played a really good game there too," the 30-year-old Swede said. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel didn't dent the scoresheet in the first meeting with Washington, but each scored a goal and set up two others in Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Arizona.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (8-7-1): Alex Ovechkin scored a goal for the third straight contest on Tuesday, but Washington failed to muster anything else offensively and saw its three-game winning streak come to a halt with a 3-1 setback to Buffalo. The three-time Hart Trophy winner also scored in the team's first encounter to give him 31 goals and 21 assists in 49 career games versus Pittsburgh. Former Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik has notched an assist in two of his last three contests after setting up just one goal in his previous 13.
OVERTIME
1. Washington G Braden Holtby has permitted just nine goals during his four-game winning streak.
2. Pittsburgh, which boasts the third-ranked power play, has scored at least one goal with the man advantage in 13 of 17 games this season.
3. The Capitals have just three wins at home this season, with only Carolina, Buffalo, Detroit and Arizona having fewer.