Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Washington Capitals (17-11-6, 40 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (22-7-5, 49 points) face-off for the first of four meetings this season live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed for free here. Washington fans can hear all of the action on WFED 1500 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on 105.9 WXDX.
Washington won three of its last four to close out their pre-Christmas break slate while Pittsburgh has lost two straight games entering play.
The Penguins sit atop the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference thus far while the Capitals own the second and final wild-card spot in the conference.
The Capitals dropped a 4-2 decision to the New York Rangers last time out on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden and play the second match of a three-game road trip.
Nicklas Backstrom has paced Washington this season with 36 points off of 11 goals and 25 assists. Captain Alex Ovechkin is second on the team with 28 points off of 16 tallies and 12 helpers while John Carlson has found the twine four times and added 22 assists for 26 points.
The Penguins dropped back-to-back 4-3 decisions on their trip through Florida prior to the break as they fell to the Florida Panthers on Monday and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Evgeni Malkin is third in the NHL and first on the team with 41 points this season while his 25 assists rank fourth in the league. Captain Sidney Crosby is tied for third in the NHL with 27 assists and ranks second on the Penguins with 37 points. Patric Hornqvist is third on Pittsburgh with 29 points off of 13 goals and 16 assists.
In net, Pittsburgh turns to Marc-Andre Fleury who is tied for second in the league with 19 wins and has a 2.09 goals-against average while ranking fifth in the NHL with a .929 save percentage. Fleury also has an NHL-best six shutouts.
Washington is likely to counter with Braden Holtby and he is 15-8-5 with a 2.30 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
The Capitals and Penguins meet for the first time this season when the puck drops at the Consol Energy Center tonight in Pittsburgh.
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