CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The last time the Penguins and Capitals met in Washington on Nov. 14, the Penguins suffered their worst lost of the season to date.
Jake Guentzel had scored the Penguins' lone goal and Tristan Jarry made 26 saves in a 6-1 loss. The power play struggled, only recording one shot on goal and allowing one shorthanded goal through two oppoetunitieds. Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin made their returns from COVID in that game, and Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel had just recently made their returns from the COVID list as well.
"Yeah, that was a tough loss," Pettersson recalled after a practice this week. "I think the last two games here we played good, and we want to bring that into Washington. Bring some swagger and some revenge, and I think it's going to be a good game."
In Friday's second meeting of the season between the two teams, the Penguins are expecting quite a different outcome, especially in the defensive side of the game.
"I think since then we've gotten a lot of guys back in the lineup that that make a difference in that respect," Mike Matheson said. "Tristan has been playing out of his mind the last few weeks, it seems. So I think overall, our team game has been a lot stronger defensively, and it's been less kind of back-and-forth, run-and-gun, see what happens, and more defend well and and create our offense from that defense."
That game in November had a lot of physicality, and just got more and more chippy as the Capitals' lead kept increasing. At one point, Crosby tackled Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary:
Crosby later got called for crosschecking Evgeny Kuznetsov that game:
Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway was a pain for the Penguins that night, and led the Capitals in hits with five. He was at the center of a lot of the scuffles, like this one with Jeff Carter after a hit from Carter in the neutral zone:
"I think that's the case anytime these two teams have played over the last 15 years or so," Matheson said of that kind of energy in the game. "I've had a taste of it the last couple years, and it's always an intense battle that both teams are ready for. I think it'll definitely be a high-energy and an intense game."
Mike Sullivan said that there's "no secrets" between the two teams, and that the Capitals are a "well-coached" group playing with confidence and a strong team game.
"We would anticipate another emotional, hard-fought battle," Sullivan said. "That's usually the case every time we play Washington, anyway. But they've had a great start to their season. We're going to have to be at our best."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• After missing yesterday's practice with what Sullivan called a "maintenance day," Jason Zucker was again absent from practice today. Sullivan said afterward that Zucker had another maintenance day, and would be making the trip to Washington.
• Guentzel (week-to-week, upper-body) and Bryan Rust (week-to-week, lower-body) did not practice,
• Evgeni Malkin skated with Ty Hennes for at least 40 minutes before practice and stayed on the ice for the main session in a non-contact jersey. He rotated in on the fourth line in the five-on-five work, and left the ice about midway through, something Sullivan said was just because Malkin couldn't participate in what the Penguins had planned for the second part of practice.
"He's progressing as we expect," Sullivan said.
• The Penguins used the same lines and pairings as they did yesterday:
Evan Rodrigues – Sidney Crosby – Kasperi Kapanen
Drew O'Connor – Jeff Carter – Danton Heinen
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brock McGinn
Dominik Simon – Brian Boyle – Sam Lafferty
(Malkin rotating in on fourth line)
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – John Marino
Mike Matheson – Chad Ruhwedel
(Mark Friedman rotating in)
• The top power play was Kris Letang, Crosby, Carter, Domink Simon, Evan Rodrigues
• The second power play was John Marino, Matheson, Kasperi Kapanen, Danton Heinen, Drew O'Connor
Those combinations are unchanged from Wednesday's practice, though Zucker would be on one of the two units. I asked Sullivan after practice about the reasons for Simon being on the top unit, and based on his answer I wouldn't be surprised if Zucker bumps him off that unit Friday.
"Well, lots of things," Sullivan said. "You know, I'm not going to elaborate on the decisions we make, but we're looking for certain options, left shots, right shots, guys that have particular strengths in certain areas that we think complement the group. We always say, nothing's ever etched in stone, but we know that he's an option for us."
• Per Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, the Capitals used these lines and combinations in their practice today:
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary – Lars Eller – Daniel Sprong
Mike Sgarbossa – Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
Beck Malenstyn – Alexei Protas – Brett Leason
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov – Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin – Justin Schultz
• Carl Hagelin missed the Capitals' practice with a non-COVID illness, and Nic Dowd, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Hathaway missed due to COVID protocols.
• Kuznetsov left the Capitals' practice early with a lower-body injury. Peter Laviolette said afterward that it was a precautionary move and that they are "hopeful" he can play Friday against the Penguins.
• Here is yet another warning that tomorrow's game won't be televised, locally or nationally. It will only be available on ESPN+ or Hulu (any Hulu plan, not just the live plans). More on that here.
• The Canucks hired Jim Rutherford as interim general manager and team president.