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Pittsburgh Penguins: Lessons Learned vs. Capitals

By Rob Joncas

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 23: Linesman James Tobias breaks up Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brenden Dillon #4 of the Washington Capitals during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 23: Linesman James Tobias breaks up Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brenden Dillon #4 of the Washington Capitals during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are jockeying for positions atop the standings of the Metropolitan Division. With playoff races tightening up, and two points on the line, this is a huge game for both clubs.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking to keep building their momentum vs. Washington Capitals on Sat. afternoon. The Penguins are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games and winners of two-in-a-row will need to their focus on grinding out another win and keeping pace with the Philadelphia Flyers who have been on fire recently and moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division standings,

Season Series

The Penguins and Capitals have squared off for 227 regular-season games since 1975, with Pittsburgh earning the majority of wins with a record of 112-94-5-16.

Both teams hold a victory in their other meetings this season. A slim 4-3 Pittsburgh victory in Washington on Feb. 2, 2020, and a Capitals 5-3 over the Penguins on Feb. 23, 2020.

Not including today’s matchup, the Penguins and Capitals meet one more time on Mar. 22, 2020  in Pittsburgh.

Leading Scorers

Crosby has scored 25 goals and 72 points in 51 games. Malkin is not far behind with 20 goals and 66 points in 46 games played. Kris Letang takes third place with 7 goals and 20 points, with Patric Hornqvist – 13 points and Justin Schultz – 12 points, rounding out the top five scorers.

Best Goaltenders

Should Tristan Jarry get the start for the Penguins today, it will mark his first career game vs. the Capitals.

Casey DeSmith holds a record of 0-1-0 and a goals-against-average of 2.03 vs. Washington, while Matt Murray has a record of 8-5-0 with a goals-against-average of 3.56 in 13 games played against the Capitals.

Two for the Books

The Capitals probably want to erase the Mar. 15, 1975, from the record books. Pittsburgh laid siege to Washington’s goaltenders Michel Belhumeur, Ron Low and scored 12 goals on a team record 65 shots. The Penguins took the game 12-1, which still stands as one of the largest goal differentials in team history.

Washington has also dished out some serious punishment to Pittsburgh over the seasons. The Capitals have scored 7 goals on 11 occasions, 8 goals on four occasions and 9 goals on two occasions.

Both 9 goal games happened in 1984 (Mar. 1, 1984, and Dec. 2, 1984)  and saw Washington capture the games by identical scores of 9-1.

Winter (not so) Classic

The Penguins and Capitals “Winter Classic” game that emanated from Heinz Field on new years day in 2011, not only left Pittsburgh with a 3-1 loss but also with an extremely scary situation for one the leagues greatest players,

Near the end of the second period, Crosby was blindsided by a shoulder to the head from Capitals forward David Steckel. While Steckel maintained the hit was unintentional, Crosby dealt with the ramifications from the concussion suffered from the hit for the parts of two seasons.

The impact of the injury not only added more gasoline to the fiery rivalry between the two clubs, but it also began a new era for concussion treatment and saw leagues around the world deploy new protocols for dealing with headshots in the game.

Worst Offender

It is definitely a surprise that Malkin is the most penalized current Penguins player vs. Capitals.

Malkin has taken 68 minutes worth of penalties in 46 games played. The most penalty minutes Malkin received in a single game was on Apr. 1, 2018, in a 3-1 loss for Pittsburgh. Malkin took an Interference call, a roughing call and earned a 10-minute misconduct for refusing to leave the ice after an altercation with T.J Oshie and yelling match Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Malkin’s second-most penalized game was on Nov. 7, 2018, in a 2-1 Penguins loss to the Capitals. Malkin took a roughing call late in the second period and earned a match penalty in the third for delivering a shoulder to Oshie’s head. Malkin finished with 12 penalty minutes.

Luckily Malkin avoided any additional discipline for the hit, however, it was Oshie who scored the game-winning goal against the Penguins.

Enemy Lines

Here’s a look at a few players that have crossed enemy lines during their careers:

Jaromir Jagr, Brooks Orpik, Brent Johnson, Robert Lang, Kris Beech, Daniel Winnik, Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Matt Cooke, Nolan Baumgartner, Patrick Boileau, Rico Fata, Martin Brochu

What are some of your memories from games between the Penguins and Capitals? Drop a message below.

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