The Penguins have yet to make a decision on Harrison Brunicke for the rest of the season, but he appears to be a healthy scratch for this game. Ryan Graves and Connor Clifton appear to be returning to the lineup. Joona Koppanen also appears to be playing after he was called up from WBS on Thursday.

Crosby put the Penguins ahead 1-0 on a power play at 2:22 of the first period, scoring with a wrist shot from the right circle off a set up by Kindel. He then made it 2-0 with another power-play goal, his sixth this season, by tapping in a rebound under Lindgren at 11:32.

Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin swapped jerseys after Thursday night's rivalry matchup between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

For the first 20 minutes of their Thursday matchup - and first of the season - against the Washington Capitals, the way the Pittsburgh Penguins were dominating was quite similar to what they did to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first 40 minutes of a heartbreaking 4-3 loss on Monday.

Bryan Rust saved the game. The other star players saved the storyline. As of Wednesday afternoon, Thursday night’s Pittsburgh Penguins versus Capitals matchup had all the makings of a showdown jam-packed with celebration and sentiment.

The Washington Capitals face the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Thursday.

The Penguins visit Newark, New Jersey to take on the Devils. Welcome back to a Saturday edition of NHL Predictions here with Last Word On Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL’s games.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have conquered the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs during their three championship runs in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang era. The Caps vanquished the Pens in the second round en route to their 2018 Cup victory.

Sidney Crosby scored twice and Bryan Rust delivered the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Pittsburgh Penguins edged Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals 5-3

The Washington Capitals saw flashes of the magic that carried them to the top of the East just a season ago on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, as they managed to claw back from down 3-0 and take back control of the game. As the story would have it, though, special teams against cost D.C. two points.