A pair of rivals heading in opposite directions meet when the Washington Capitals end their regular season with a visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Capitals (51-21-9, 111 points) will be the top seed in the Eastern Conference entering the Stanley Cup playoffs while the Penguins (33-36-12, 78 points) will miss the postseason for the third straight year and finish with their first losing season under coach Mike Sullivan.
The game features the 73rd regular-season matchup between forwards Alex Ovechkin, the new NHL all-time goals leader, and three-time Stanley Cup champion Sydney Crosby. Crosby has recorded 93 points (32 goals, 61 assists) in those matchups while Ovechkin has totaled 67 points (37 goals, 30 assists).
Washington is looking to build momentum heading into the postseason after scuffling of late. The Capitals are 4-6-1 over their past 11 games, but their latest effort was a 3-1 win at the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Dylan Strome scored his third NHL hat trick and Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves for Washington, which had lost two straight while being outscored 11-1.
“I felt like it was one of the cleaner games we’ve played in a while,” Lindgren said. “I thought from start to finish it was just a consistent effort. I thought we did a lot of really good things offensively. I thought defensively we were steady tonight and detailed.”
Strome, often playing on a line with Ovechkin, has set new career highs in goals (29), assists (52) and points (81).
“I have a lot of great players I get to play with,” Strome said. “I was playing with for most of the season, and obviously the season that had, and to play with guys like and then and … our whole team has been chipping in. I feel like we’ve done it the whole year.”
The Capitals announced they re-signed center Nic Dowd to a two-year contract extension. Dowd, 34, has recorded a career-high 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) this season and is a key member of the Washington penalty kill.
The Penguins had won two straight and three of four before a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins that left Sullivan unhappy with most of his team.
“Slow start? It was a slow game, period,” Sullivan said. “We had one guy. I thought our goaltender was terrific. The rest of it, it’s hard to find a positive.”
Tristan Jarry made 28 saves against Boston and is 4-1-1 in his past six starts. Rickard Rakell scored for the Penguins.
Rakell scored his 35th goal of the season, a career high. He had 15 goals in 70 games last season. His 69 points have tied his career high.
“I mean, obviously, it feels way better than it did last year,” Rakell said. “It doesn’t feel good when you’re not in the position that we want to be in. That’s what it feels like right now.”
Crosby had his home point streak end at 14 games (nine goals, 11 assists).
Defenseman Kris Letang, 37, will miss the Penguins’ season finale and be recovering for several weeks after having surgery this week to close a small hole in his heart.
–Field Level Media
