No rivalry has electrified NHL fans during the past 15 seasons quite like Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals. But the two superstars are still playing as well as ever, with Ovechkin chasing down Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record and Sid inspiring the league’s next wave of talent.
The saga continues on Friday night as the Penguins visit the Capitals, available only on ESPN+, and featuring the Star Watch experience as an alternate streaming option.
To help get you ready for the matchup, we’ve put together a guide on all the key players to watch for both teams, in-depth statistical insights on the Penguins and Capitals from ESPN Stats & Information, and more.
This season, ESPN+ will broadcast 75 exclusive regular-season games, with ABC and ESPN airing a combined 28 exclusive regular-season games for a total of 103 games. The complete broadcast schedule can be found here.
Subscribe to ESPN+ | Stream the NHL on ESPN
6:55 p.m. ET | Watch live on ESPN+
Line: Washington -140 | Over/under: 6
Penguins
ESPN Power Rankings: 13
Goalie confidence rank: 10
Leading scorer: Jake Guentzel, 27 points in 24 games
2021-22 record: 12-8-5, fourth in Metro Division
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Penguins leading goal (15) and point scorer (27) Jake Guentzel will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Guentzel had a 13-game point streak going, which was the longest active streak in the NHL and third-longest this season. Guentzel also had a point in all 12 road games he’s played in this season, and his 19 road points were tied with Connor McDavid for fourth in the NHL.
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The Penguins are 2-1-1 on their five-game road trip. Entering Wednesday, the Penguins are tied with the Minnesota Wild for the sixth-best road points percentage this season (.654, 7-3-3)
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Crosby has an assist in six consecutive games, which enters Wednesday as tied for the second-longest active streak with Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and trailing only Rangers defenseman Adam Fox at seven…
Source : espn
