March 7 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (28-23-9)
Pittsburgh Penguins (27-24-8)
The Caps take to the road for their last game ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline; Washington makes the second of its two visits to Pittsburgh this season for a Thursday night date with the Penguins. Thursday’s game is one of two remaining between the Metro Division rivals, and it’s one of just five remaining games for Washington against divisional opponents.
Ahead of their midweek trip to Pittsburgh, the Caps finished a trio of transactions that started on Tuesday afternoon with the reclaiming of winger Matthew Phillips from Pittsburgh; the Pens had claimed Phillips from the Caps on Feb. 16, and now he returns to the Washington organization after skating in three games with the Penguins.
On Tuesday evening, the Capitals dealt 20-goal scoring winger Anthony Mantha to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Vegas’ second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and the Golden Knights’ fourth-round selection in 2026.
Finally, on Wednesday morning, the Caps announced that they had come to terms with blueliner Rasmus Sandin on a five-year contract extension worth $23 million (AAV: $4.6 million). Sandin, who turns 24 on Thursday, was Washington’s major acquisition during last year’s trade deadline season.
“It all started a year ago, when I got here,” says Sandin. “The organization really showed belief in me and gave me a big opportunity. I love it here. It’s hard to believe that [the contract] is done, and I’m getting a five-year extension. I feel like this is the place I hopefully will be for the whole five years at least, too.
“But it’s up to you. You’ve been dreaming about it, you’ve been hoping for it, but you never thought it was really going to happen. But it did, and I’m very happy about it.”
While the Caps have been busy off the ice, they’ve been away from game action for a few days. But that will change quickly, because no NHL team has played fewer games than Washington to this point of the season. From here until season’s end on April 16, the Caps have just one gap of more than a day between games. They have two days between a March 30 home game against Boston and an April 2 contest against the Sabres in Buffalo.
Washington has been idle since Sunday when it suffered a 5-2 setback on home ice against the Arizona Coyotes. Sunday’s game was one in which the Caps never found their footing; they fell behind early and were never able to find the level of consistent connectedness which had been the primary characteristic that fueled their impressive 6-2-2 run heading into that loss to the Coyotes.
The Caps need to make up a seven-point deficit in the standings, and they do hold games in hand. But they’ve also got a few teams to climb over to get where they want to be, and they’ve got a busy and difficult schedule the rest of the way.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scoreboard watching a little bit,” says Caps’ center Connor McMichael. “But we’re just trying to focus on ourselves as much as we can. Every single game is the biggest one of the year, so we’re pretty disappointed with how Sunday went. It’s going to be a big game for us on Thursday in Pittsburgh, against a team that’s pretty close to us in the standings, and fighting for its playoff life as well.”
Sunday’s loss was another squandered opportunity to start stacking up victories, the only formula that is going to lift the Capitals back into the playoff chase as the season reaches the quarter pole.
“We’re just focused on [Pittsburgh], and going into their building, and trying to find a way to get back on track and have a positive performance,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “We’ll look at some of stuff from Arizona; [there were] a lot of things that were uncharacteristic of our group. But we’ll also look at it, dissect it, and make sure that we’re learning from that experience.”
After taking Monday off, the Caps reconvened for practice on what turned out to be an eventful Tuesday, and they practiced again on Wednesday before departing for western Pennsylvania. Beginning with Thursday’s game, the Caps will play 22 games in a span of just 41 days to close out the 2023-24 campaign.
Mantha participated in Tuesday’s practice, but his departure from the District later that evening leaves a hole in the lineup, one that is expected to be filled by rookie Ivan Miroshnichenko, at least to start with. More deals could happen involving Washington, and they could take place before or after Thursday’s game.
“It changes [Tuesday] night when a player gets moved out, and so we just have to adjust on the fly,” notes Carbery. “But it won’t change anything else with our preparation. We’ll go to [Pittsburgh] with the expectation that everybody here is ready to play. And if that changes, then we pivot from there.”
Pittsburgh is a point behind the Caps in the Metro Division standings, and like the Caps (and the Ottawa Senators), the Pens have only played 60 games entering Thursday’s slate of NHL activity. Also like the Caps, the Penguins are seeking to avoid a second straight season outside of the Stanley Cup playoff picture.
Following a disappointing 1-3-0 trip through Western Canada and Seattle – a trip the Caps must make next week – the Penguins returned home and got back on the winning track with a 5-3 victory over Columbus on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
Pittsburgh has been a streaky bunch this season; the Pens have had three winning streaks of three or more games, and they’ve had five losing slides of three or more contests. The Caps and Penguins each played their first game of 2024 here on Jan. 2, a game in which Washington scored four times in the first period and then held on for a 4-3 victory.
Since that Jan. 2 contest here, the Pens are 10-11-4 while Washington is 11-12-3.
