Capitals vs. Penguins: Lines, Who To Watch, What To Know

ARLINGTON, V.A. — Fresh off a big win over the Edmonton Oilers, the banged-up Washington Capitals will have a rivalry showdown with another older Metropolitan team that’s seeing its own share of struggles: the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Washington (6-6-2) is at .500 despite having nine players on the shelf with injury, but has seen its fair share of inconsistencies. The Capitals snapped a four-game losing skid on Monday against the Oilers. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh (4-6-2) is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and sits second-to-last in the division. The club has lost seven straight games.

Against the Penguins, Washington is still waiting on word about its top two defensemen in John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. Both are day-to-day with lower-body injuries and were skating. However, they do not appear to be in.

Alex Alexeyev, meanwhile, will make his season debut. He is back after having shoulder surgery. A subsequent move will have to come.

Here are the lines:

Alex Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Conor Sheary

Sonny Milano-Dylan Strome-Marcus Johansson

Anthony Mantha-Lars Eller-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Aliaksei Protas-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway

Trevor van Riemsdyk-Erik Gustafsson

Martin Fehervary-Nick Jensen

Matt Irwin-Alex Alexeyev

Darcy Kuemper will get the call. Charlie Lindgren got the start on Monday and came up with some highlight-reel stops to shut down Connor McDavid and company and will back up.

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For the Capitals, look out for Alex Ovechkin. The 37-year-old captain has come up with some highlight-reel plays and has been in vintage form of late. He has goals in five of his last six games and sits 14 away from passing Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time scoring list as he chases down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. Ovechkin is also on a six-game point streak.

In addition, Evgeny Kuznetsov broke out for a four-point night on Monday, and it looks like he’s getting that confidence back and is ready to return to the play that impressed so many last season. Dylan Strome also had three points (2G, 1A) on Monday, as did Erik Gustafsson. The power play has also been fantastic and had four goals last game. Another name to watch out for: Sonny Milano, who put on a show and almost had a great goal against the Oilers.

For Pittsburgh, Jake Guentzel has been red-hot and has points in five straight games. Sidney Crosby is always dangerous and has three points in his last three games. He is still operating at over a point-per-game pace. Evgeni Malkin has four points in his last three games.

The rivalry tilt will be live on TNT. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. ET.