Capitals at Penguins
After ending the Pittsburgh Penguins' streak of road playoff victories at six, the Washington Capitals look to extend their good fortune away from home on Tuesday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at PPG Paints Arena. The Capitals, who evened the series with Sunday's 4-1 triumph, have won all three road games this postseason and seven of nine dating to last year - including two of three in the Steel City.
"We've had some success there, but it's a tough place to win," said former Penguin and current Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen, who saw Washington clinch the Metropolitan Division title in Pittsburgh with a 3-1 triumph on April 1. Captain Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet in that contest, but has 15 points (11 goals, four assists) in the 11 games that followed - including four goals and an assist in his last three outings. Jake Guentzel has been blistering hot in his own right as the postseason dynamo set up defenseman Kris Letang's second-period goal on Sunday, prompting coach Mike Sullivan to tinker with his lines in a bid for balance. "Obviously we're a much better team when we get contributions through our lineup," said Sullivan, who has seen Guentzel (17 points) and captain Sidney Crosby (15 points) combine for over half of the point total accumulated by the rest of the team (56).
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TVAS2
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Evgeni Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie are expected to play on Tuesday despite both sustaining minor hand injuries during the tail end of the third period in Game 2. "Everybody's fine. Same traveling party. Same lineup," said coach Barry Trotz, who noted that Andre Burakovsky could resume skating soon following a surgical procedure last week on the heels of an upper-body injury suffered against Columbus on April 15. As for Tom Wilson, the first-line forward did not receive a disciplinary hearing for his hit to the head of defenseman Brian Dumoulin, multiple media outlets reported on Monday.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS: Evgeni Malkin (lower body) will be a game-time decision on Tuesday after missing three contests with a lower-body injury sustained in Game 5 of the first-round series versus Philadelphia. The former Hart Trophy recipient centered the second line between wings Dominik Simon and Bryan Rust during Monday's practice while fellow forward Phil Kessel shuffled to the third line alongside Derick Brassard and Conor Sheary. Carl Hagelin (upper body) and Dumoulin (upper body) also are questionable to play in Game 3, with the former changing his non-contact jersey to a traditional yellow one midway into Monday's practice while the latter wore a non-contact sweater throughout.
OVERTIME
1. Kessel has been held off the scoresheet in five of eight postseason contests.
2. The Capitals have thwarted all five short-handed situations versus the Penguins this series to improve to a perfect 22-for-22 since Game 2 of their first-round set versus the Blue Jackets.
3. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray has yielded seven goals on 67 shots en route to dropping two of three home decisions in the playoffs.
PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Capitals 2