Capitals at Penguins
The Washington Capitals have dropped nine of their last 13 contests (4-7-2) to find themselves with company atop the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals look to fend off one Keystone State representative in the standings by defeating another on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Washington's latest loss was a result of a masterful performance from Mika Zibanejad, who scored his fifth goal of Thursday's game at 33 seconds overtime to fuel the New York Rangers to a 6-5 triumph at Madison Square Garden. The Capitals have been extremely generous of late, surrendering at least three goals in 10 straight games (3-5-2) to allow white-hot Philadelphia to pull even with them in the standings. Pittsburgh resides three points behind the pair after answering a season-high six-game losing streak by erupting for 11 goals to highlight back-to-back victories. "I can't imagine (the Capitals are) too happy with how the last couple games have gone," Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. "So, they're going to come out hard. Obviously, every game against them is a fun, hard, playoff-type game. I expect it to be that way."
TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: NHL Network, NBCS Washington, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, Sportsnet1
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (40-20-7): Alex Ovechkin endured a fair bit of resistance in his bid to become the eighth member of the NHL's 700-goal club, but Washington's superstar captain doesn't appear to be slowing down in his bid to ascend up the league's scoring list. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient has scored five times in his last six games, with his second two-goal performance in three outings on Thursday moving him within three of Hall of Famer Mike Gartner for seventh place in NHL history. Ovechkin traditionally has put his best foot forward in his battles with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins, but he has followed 59 points (35 goals, 24 assists) in his first 56 meetings by being held off the scoresheet in both encounters this season.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (39-21-6): Evgeni Malkin has recorded six of his club-best 48 assists over the last two contests and scored a goal and set up two others as Pittsburgh split a pair of meetings with Washington last month. Rust, who had a hat trick in the Penguins' 7-3 romp over Ottawa on Tuesday, has four multi-goal performances to tie Malkin and Patric Hornqvist for the team lead in that category. Hornqvist, who joined his mates after tallying twice on Thursday, has scored in each game against the Capitals this season.
OVERTIME
1. Crosby has scored a goal in back-to-back games and has three in his last six, beginning with a 5-3 setback to Washington on Feb. 23.
2. Capitals LW Carl Hagelin has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) over his past 20 games, including three (two goals, one assist) in two meetings with the Penguins.
3. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray posted his second straight win on Thursday, marking his first string of consecutive victories since a 6-0-0 run from Dec. 28-Feb. 2.