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Top 3 key Washington Capitals to watch against the Pittsburgh Penguins

Big one tonight. Let's break down who to watch on the good guys

By Michael Marzzacco |
Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Washington Capitals
Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Washington Capitals / Scott Taetsch/GettyImages
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The Washington Capitals go up against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN plus and Hulu. Before we break down who to watch tonight, let's catch up on what went down at morning skate.

Jakob Chychrun, per Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network, was the first player on the ice this morning in a normal jersey. He's dealt with an upper body injury. However, per El-Bashir, he took the scratches skate.

Based on that scratch's skate, expect Jakub Vrana to return to the lineup tonight. Sonny Milano, who sustained an upper body injury against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday is out tonight, per Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery. Per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, they'll likely recall a forward on Saturday so they have an extra one on the roster on the way to St. Louis for the game against the Blues.

#3 Dylan Strome

Dylan Strome extended his assist streak to five games with two assists on Nov. 6 against the Predators. He has nine assists in those five games. Should he register an assist, he would establish a new career long assist streak.

Strome leads the Caps in assists with 15 and points with 19. With his two assists the other night it was his fourth multi assist performance in his last five games. He would reach the 200 assist mark as a result.

Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

#2 Connor McMichael

Connor McMichael scored his eighth goal of the season the other game against the Nashvile Predators which marked his seventh goal in his last seven games. McMichael scored a goal in three straight games from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 which marked the longest goal streak of his career.

McMichael ranks tied for first on the Caps in goals with eight and third in points with 13. Last season, McMichael didn't score his eighth goal of the season until his 50th game of the season on Feb. 13th.

McMichael recorded a four game point streak from Oct. 17 through the 23rd which was tied for the longest of his career. The other time was March 30, 2024 through the 26th where he recorded three goals and two assists for five points.

McMichael, who set career highs in goals, assists, points, and games polayed last season, is over a third of the way toward his point total just 12 games into this season.

McMichael also has some good advanced stats. Per Natural Stat Trick, he has a 50.76 percent corsi for percentage, an expected goals for percentage of 62.90 percent as well as a high danger chances for percentage of 57.53 percent.

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

#1 Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin continues to chase history as he recorded two points the other night against Nashville with a goal and assist which extended his goal streak to five games with six goals and five assists for 11 points.

Ovi became the third player in NHL history to record a five game goal streak at age 39 or older, joining Brett Hull and Johnny Bucyk. It also marked Ovechkin's 15th career goal streak of at least five games within a regular season. Only Mario Lemieux (17) and Wayne Gretzky (16) have more.

Ovechkin has scored 31 points in his last 48 games dating back to Jan. 27 which is a rate of 0.65 goals per game. Ovi ranks tied for third in the NHL in goals in that span. His goal on Nov. 6 marked his 130th career game winning goal, leaving him six shy of passing Jaromir Jagr (135) for the most in NHL history.

Ovechkin has recorded 16 points with eight goals and eight assists in 12 games. That is the most points he has recorded through the first 12 games of a season since 2021-22.

In 76 career games against the Penguins, Ovechkin has recorded 75 points with 42 goals and 33 assists. He ranks first among active players in career goals and points against the Penguins.

With 861 career goals, Ovi needs 34 more to pass Wayne Gretzky (894) for first on the NHL's all time goals list. With eight goals in 12 games, Ovi is currently on pace for 54 goals. Should he reach the 50 goal plateu not only would he break Wayne's record but also establish a new record for the most 50 goal seasons with 10.

Once again your friendly neighborhood Spiderman reminder that puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN plus and Hulu.

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