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Prepare for the final set of NHL games before the puck drops for the Stanley Cup playoffs! Tonight, the Washington Capitals take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 PM ET sharp, with a boatload of action just waiting to hit the ice!
We’ve got a full rundown of tonight’s game between Washington and Pittsburgh, so feel free to analyze our picks and decide whether they are something you want to fade or follow!
The Washington Capitals lead the Eastern Conference Metropolitan Division with 111 points, and the next highest team is the Carolina Hurricanes, sitting at just 99 points. The Capitals have been fierce this season, although they’ve struggled to post a winning record in their last eight games.
Starting on April 1, they squeezed out a narrow 4-3 win over the Bruins. From there, the Hurricanes would dish out a 5-1 defeat in their next game before Washington bounced back against the Blackhawks for a 5-3 victory. They fell to the Islanders 4-1 but would take revenge on the Hurricanes the next game 5-4 in a shootout. The Blue Jackets would pose trouble for Washington, defeating them 7-0 on April 12 and again 4-1 the next day. Most recently, they captured a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders and will look to continue their fresh win streak.
Capitals center Dylan Strome continues to dominate the skating stats, with 29 goals and 52 assists, scoring a hat-trick in his most recent game against the Islanders. All-time NHL goal-scoring record-breaker Alex Ovechkin continues to have a spectacular season at left wing with a whopping 43 goals and 29 assists, and based on how his season is going, we expect him to net at least 1+ goals tonight. Apart from dominant goal-scoring threats, goaltenders Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren will look to maintain their impressive goal-against records, showcasing just 2.49 and 2.73 goals allowed per game.
Contrary to the Capitals’ season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have hardly had an impressive season, sitting in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division with just 78 points, only 2 points ahead of the last-placed Philadelphia Flyers. They did, however, post the same record as the Capitals in their last eight games.
They began with a crushing 7-3 defeat from the Sabres on March 27. Their next game against the Senators would end in a 1-0 shootout before taking another 5-4 OT loss to the Blues on April 3. Alternating wins, their next game against the Stars ended in a 5-3 victory, only to cut that win streak short with a 3-1 loss against the Blackhawks. They got revenge against the Blackhawks the next game with a 5-0 blowout win, kicking off a two-game win streak with their 4-2 victory against the Devils. The Bruins would cut this run short, handing the Penguins an embarrassing 4-1 loss in their most recent game.
Penguins center Sidney Crosby has performed impeccably this season, leading the skating charts with 32 goals and 57 assists in 79 games. Right wing Rickard Rakell can’t be counted out by any means, posting 35 goals and 34 assists in his 80 games played. Pittsburgh will need to improve on their defense and goaltending if they want any hope of securing the win, letting up the 3rd highest number of goals this season (291) behind only the Blackhawks (296) and Sharks (312). Both goalkeepers Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic sit at the bottom of the NHL goaltending standings, letting up 3.12 and 3.16 goals.
While tonight means business for both sides, the Washington Capitals post a +59 goal differential, while Pittsburgh posts a horrid -53 goal differential. Where the Penguins defense lacks (291 goals allowed), the Capitals offense thrives (286 goals for), and with Washington just coming off a fresh win, we expect them to outpace and outscore their opponents.
Even though this game is at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, expect the Capitals to win with Alex Ovechkin continuing to stretch his all-time NHL goal-scoring record with another 1+ goals.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.