Penguins at Capitals 12/19/18 - NHL Picks & Predictions

The Pittsburgh Penguins look to bounce back from a loss when they visit the nation’s capital to play the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. The Penguins were defeated on Monday by the Anaheim Ducks 4-2. Pittsburgh led 2-0 after one period but gave up three goals in the second and one in the third and did not score in either. Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored the Pens two goals.

Washington won its fifth straight game on Saturday defeating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in a shootout. Alex Ovechkin scored his 29th goal, which leads the NHL and has now scored one point in 14 straight games. Ovechkin also scored the shootout winner for the Capitals in the win over Buffalo. Sidney Crosby is the team leader for Pittsburgh in goals scored with 15 and points leader with 36. Evgeni Malkin is the leader in assists with 25. Goaltender Casey DeSmith is 10-6-4 with a 2.49 goals against average and .923 save percentage. Pittsburgh is 7th in goals scored per game at 3.36 and 21st in goals against at 3.21.

Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in goals scored with 29 and in points with 43. Niklas Backstrom is the Capitals leader in assists with 30. Braden Holtby in goal is 13-7-2 with a 2.90 goals against average and .910 save percentage. Washington is 2nd in goals scored per game at 3.72 and 18th in goals against per game at 3.09.