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The Penguins continue along their season-long seven-game road trip as they take on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 PM.

This game will be available to watch on SportsNet Pittsburgh and ESPN+. Fans can listen to the game on 105.9 the X and on the Penguins app.

Team Records: PIT (19-20-8), WSH (30-10-5)

Pittsburgh has points in six of their last eight games against Washington (5-2- 1). The Penguins have points in six-straight visits to Capital One Arena (5-0-1) and are 7-1-1 in their last nine road games against the Capitals. Since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign, no team has defeated Washington more than Pittsburgh (23 wins). The Penguins have points in 17 of their last 25 games against the Capitals (15- 8-2).

Recent News

Game Notes

* The Penguins continue their season-long seven-game road trip spanning a total of 15 days, and are 1-0-0 thus far. It’s the longest road trip for Pittsburgh since their eight-game road swing nearly 30 years ago from Oct. 14-28, 1997 (NYR-MTL-TBL-FLA-SJS-EDM-VAN-CGY).

* The 2024-25 season marks the 20th season that generational talents Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin face off. The two have taken part in 70 head-to-head matchups, where Crosby and the Penguins have gone 41-25-4 against Ovechkin and the Capitals.

Not only is the Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry one of the NHL’s best, but it’s also the league’s longest-standing rivalry. Crosby and Ovechkin are the only two players in the NHL to play for the same team since the beginning of the 2005- 06 season, and are two of just five players that are still active that also played in 2005-06 (also Corey Perry, Brent Burns and Ryan Suter).

The 2024-25 season marks the 20th consecutive season Crosby and Ovechkin have played one another. Only four forward-duos have played against each other in more consecutive campaigns: Ron Francis and Mark Messier (23 seasons), Alex Delvecchio and Doug Mohns (21 seasons), Dean Prentice and Ron Stewart (21 seasons) and Delvecchio and Stewart (21 seasons).

* Sidney Crosby has consistently produced points throughout his career against the Capitals. Despite not playing in the same division as Washington until 2013-14, Crosby ranks first in points versus the Capitals among all active players, and is currently tied with Mark Messier for seventh all-time.

Crosby has recorded 31 multi-point efforts against the Capitals, which is quickly approaching the NHL record.

* Sidney Crosby, who’s picked up seven points in his last 10 contests (2G-5A), enters tonight’s game two points shy of the 50-point plateau. Crosby has 17 seasons with 50 or more points in his career and is looking to become just the 11th player in NHL history with 18 or more such seasons.

He is also just one goal shy of surpassing Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull for the sixth-most goals with one franchise in NHL history; one assist shy of surpassing Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne for the 11th-most assists in NHL history; and one even-strength goal shy of surpassing Teemu Selanne for the 12th most even-strength goals in NHL history.

* Bryan Rust notched his eighth multi-point effort of the season (1G1A) last night against the Sabres, giving him goals in two-consecutive games (2G-1A) and seven points (3G-4A) in his last five games. Rust, who ranks second on Pittsburgh with 18 goals, is just two tallies shy of his sixth 20-goal season. He’s looking to become just the ninth player in franchise history to have six or more 20-goal seasons with the team.

* Rickard Rakell has been Pittsburgh’s hottest player as of late, picking up 13 points (8G-5A) over his last 12 games. Rakell leads the Penguins with 23 goals. This season only William Nylander (26) has more goals in the NHL among Swedish-born players, and he is ninth in the NHL in goals overall. Of Rakell’s 23 goals, 18 of them have come at even strength, which is tied for fourth in the league.

Dating back to Nov. 27, no NHL player has more goals than Rakell, who’s notched 27 points (16G-11A) in 24 games in that span.

* Goaltender Joel Blomqvist was called up from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on January 16. In 12 games this season with WBS, Blomqvist has gone 6-4-2 with a 2.93 goals-against average, a .912 save percentage and one shutout.

The Finnish goaltender appeared in eight NHL games this season with Pittsburgh, going 3-5-0 with a 3.60 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. He recorded his first career win in his NHL debut at Detroit on October 10.

Blomqvist recorded 46 saves at Edmonton on October 25, which were tied for the sixth most by a rookie goaltender in franchise history.

* Last night, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic became the 16th goaltender in NHL history, and second Penguins goaltender, to score an NHL goal. He is the first goalie in NHL history to record a goal and an assist in a game, and his two-point effort (1G-1A) marked the first two-point game by a goalie since Pyotr Kochetkov on Dec. 22, 2024. The goal marked Nedeljkovic’s fourth-career professional goal, and he is the only goaltender in professional hockey history to score in an NHL, AHL and ECHL game.

Quick Hits

1) Tonight, the Penguins conclude their 10th set of back-to-back games. Thus far, the team is 8-11-0 in back-to-backs (2-8-0 on the first night and 6-3-0 on the second night).

2) With four hits last night, Noel Acciari has reached his third-straight, and sixth season overall, with 100 or more hits. He leads all Pittsburgh skaters with 100 hits on the year.

3) With his fourth multi-point effort of the year last night (2A), Matt Grzelcyk has established a new career high in assists (23), passing his previous high of 22 set in 75 games with Boston in 22-23.

4) Michael Bunting has six goals and seven points (6G-1A) in nine career games against Washington. He has goals in back-to-back games against them.

5) The Penguins own an overall record of 398-90-48 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.

Away Game Triggers

2024.25 Game Trigger Away