PITTSBURGH — The Penguins and Capitals met Sunday night in a nationally televised game that carried division weight well beyond the final score. Pittsburgh entered at 41-23-16 with 98 points, good for second in the Metropolitan Division, while Washington came in at 41-30-9 with 91 points and sitting fifth.
The game was the third and final meeting in the season series between the teams, with Pittsburgh having won 5-3 in the first matchup in Pittsburgh on Nov. 6. That earlier result gave the Penguins an edge in a rivalry that has been compressed into just three games this season, a format that changes next year when the NHL moves to an 84-game schedule and division opponents meet four times apiece.
For Pittsburgh, the timing mattered because the Penguins had one regular-season game left after this one and were scheduled to host Game 1 of the playoffs the following weekend. They were set to finish the regular season Tuesday against St. Louis, a last tuneup before the postseason begins at home. Washington was headed in the other direction, with one more game Tuesday in Columbus before it wrapped up a season that has left the Capitals near the bottom half of the division.
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The lineups reflected the late-season context. Washington’s projected first line listed Anthony Beauvillier, Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin, with Connor McMichael, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Ryan Leonard on the second line. Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas and Tom Wilson were listed together on the third line, while Brandon Duhaime, Justin Sourdif and Ivan Mirshinchenko were projected on the fourth. Logan Thompson and Mitchell Gibson were listed as the Capitals’ goalies, and David Kampf, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank, Declan Chisholm, Dylan McIlrath and Charlie Lindgren were among the potential scratches.
Pittsburgh’s projected lineup had Egor Chinakhov, Rickard Rakell and Ville Koivunen on the first line, with Anthony Mantha, Tommy Novak and Justin Brazeau on the second. Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes and Avery Hayes were listed on the third line, and Elmer Soderblom, Joona Koppanen and Noel Acciari were on the fourth. Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs were listed as the Penguins’ goalies, Blake Lizotte was listed as injured, and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ben Kindel, Erik Karlsson, Parker Wotherspoon, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust were among the potential scratches.
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That is what made the night more than another date on the calendar. Pittsburgh was chasing playoff readiness with the bracket about to open, Washington was trying to close out cleanly, and the season series had one last game to settle before both clubs turned the page.
