Washington Capitals Chase Pittsburgh Penguins With Four Consecutive Second-Period Goals In 8-3 Win; Jakob Chychrun Scores Twice, Tom Wilson Sets Career-High With 25th Goal Of Season

Washington Capitals Chase Pittsburgh Penguins With Four Consecutive Second-Period Goals In 8-3 Win; Jakob Chychrun Scores Twice, Tom Wilson Sets Career-High With 25th Goal Of Season

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Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals crushed the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 8-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon, the first day of NHL action after the 4 Nations Faceoff concluded on Thursday. Washington, who has points in seven straight games (4-0-3) and is 13-1-5 in their last 19, improved to an NHL-leading 37-11-8 (.732 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Logan Thompson made 29 saves in the win.

Washington’s Lines

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Taylor Raddysh – Lars Eller — Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Andrew Mangiapane

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

  • Scratched
    • LW Jakub Vrana
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • D Alexander Alexeyev
  • Injured
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Raddysh returned to his spot on the fourth line.

Pittsburgh’s Lines

Anthony Beauvillier — Sidney Crosby — Rickard Rakell
Michael Bunting — Evgeni Malkin — Cody Glass
Danton Heinen — Kevin Hayes — Philip Tomasino
Matt Nieto — Blake Lizotte — Noel Acciari

Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves — Vincent Desharnais

Alex Nedeljkovic
Joel Blomqvist

  • Scratched
    • D Vladislav Kolyachonok
    • D Ryan Shea
    • RW Emil Bemstrom
  • Injured
    • LW Bokodji Imama (upper-body)
    • D Jack St. Ivany (undisclosed)
    • RW Bryan Rust (illness)

Crosby, who missed Pittsburgh’s final two games before the break with an undisclosed injury but played for Canada in the 4 Nations tournament, was a game-time decision.

First Period

Scoring

  • 5:13, 1-0 Washington: After Frank sent Mangiapane in alone on a breakaway, Mangiapane went to the backhand and got Nedeljkovic out of the crease. Frank deflected the pass into the net with his skate. Frank, who played in his 15th career NHL game, has scored three of his four goals on the road. Six of Mangiapane’s nine assists have been primaries.
  • 18:21, 1-1 (PPG): Letang clapped a slapper over the glove of Thompson from the left dot after getting a cross-ice pass from Malkin.

Stats

  • 9-5 Pittsburgh in shots
  • .632 Pittsburgh on faceoffs
  • Pittsburgh scored once on their first two power plays
  • 8-7 Washington in hits
  • 11-3 Washington in blocked shots
  • 6-2 Washington in giveaways
Graphs: Natural StatTrick

Second Period

Scoring

  • 1:10, 2-1 Washington: Duhaime got the puck off of the wall in the defensive zone, busted in to the offensive zone, fed Fehervary down the slot, and Fehervary wristed a shot over the blocker of Nedeljkovic and in. Fehervary has scored more goals against Pittsburgh (four in 13 games) than any other team. Duhaime (6-8-14 in 56) has surpassed his point total from all of last season (5-8-13 in 80 with the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche).
  • 6:36, 2-2: Crosby backhanded a shot that squeaked through the five-hole of Thompson and in from the left dot with Roy defending him after Rakell caught a stretch pass from Karlsson in the neutral zone and sent Crosby in.
  • 10:36, 3-2 Washington: Chychrun dangled around Desharnais and ripped a shot over the blocker of Nedeljkovic after putting the puck through Desharnais’ legs and getting a pass by Dubois from the red line.
  • 14:17, 4-2: Chychrun ripped one over the glove of Nedeljkovic and in with Wilson screening Nedeljkovic in front after stepping in at the blueline and getting a pass by Dubois from the right half-wall. Chychrun’s 16 goals rank third among NHL defensemen (Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar: 22; Columbus Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski: 17). Chychrun notched his first multi-goal game of the season and the 10th of his career. Dubois has registered his fourth multi-assist game of the season. Dubois leads the Capitals in primary assists (24) and ranks second on the team in assists (33).
  • 14:25, 5-2: Protas stepped in and wristed a shot high glove on Nedeljkovic and in from the slot after getting a pass by Sandin from the defensive zone. Protas recorded the 100th point of his NHL career, becoming the 13th player from the 2019 NHL Draft class to reach the 100-point mark. The two goals scored by Washington in eight seconds were the fastest by the franchise since 2006. 22 of Protas’ 23 goals this season have come at even strength, which ranks tied for fourth in the NHL. Sandin earned his third multi-assist game and fourth multi-point performance of the 2024-25 season. Nedeljkovic was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots (.643).
  • 18:05, 6-2: Wilson tipped in Fehervary’s wrist shot from the top over the glove of Blomqvist in front of the crease after Roy dropped the puck for him. The goal was Wilson’s 25th of the season, which sets a new career-high for him (it was previously 24 in 78 during 2021-22 season). Wilson has scored in his last five games played at PPG Paints Arena (4/9/22-2/22/25: 5g in 5 GP). Wilson’s 13 goals in 45 career games against Pittsburgh are tied for the most he has scored against a single opponent (13 in 34 vs. Buffalo Sabres). Fehervary recorded his second multi-point game of the season and the fourth of his career.

Stats

  • 20-18 Pittsburgh in shots
    • 13-11 Washington in the second
  • 18-10 Washington in hits
  • 17-6 Washington in blocked shots
  • 10-4 Washington in giveaways

The Capitals scored five goals in the second period, marking the third time this season they have scored five goals in a period (also first period on 11/2 in a 7-2 win over Columbus Blue Jackets; third period on 11/9 in an 8-1 victory at St. Louis Blues). Through two periods, all six Capitals defensemen have recorded at least one point, while Chychrun (two goals), Fehervary (one goal, one assist) and Sandin (two helpers) each have two points.

Third Period

Scoring

  • 13:11, 7-2 (PPG): Strome wristed a shot over the glove of Blomqvist from the right dot after Raddysh sent him a pass on the backhand from the slot. Strome extended his point streak to a career-long seven games (5-4-9). Raddysh recorded the primary assist on Strome’s power-play goal and has set a new single-season career high in assists with 18 (previously 2022-23: 17). It marks Raddysh’s second multi-assist effort in his last three games played (also two in 4-3 win on February 6 at Philadelphia Flyers). With the secondary helper, Dubois recorded his third assist of the game on the Capitals’ seventh goal. It marks Dubois’ ninth career game with three or more assists.
  • 14:22, 7-3: Heinen buried a rebound into an empty net with Thompson down and out off of Tomasino’s slap shot after Thompson turned it aside.
  • 17:19, 8-3: Duhaime wristed a shot over the glove of Blomqvist all alone from the slot after poking the puck away from Letang at the defensive blueline and beating him to the loose puck. With a goal and an assist this afternoon, Duhaime has registered his third multi-point game of the season and the sixth of his career. Roy recorded his second assist of the game on Duhaime’s goal. Capitals defensemen have combined for 10 points in Saturday’s game (3-7-10).

Stats

  • 32-31 Pittsburgh in shots
    • 13-12 Washington in the period
  • .579 Pittsburgh on faceoffs
  • Washington finished one for four on the man advantage
  • 23-16 Washington in hits
  • 21-15 Washington in blocked shots
  • 13-9 Washington in giveaways
  • 4-2 Washington in takeaways

15 of Washington’s 18 skaters recorded at least one point in today’s game, including all six defensemen. It is the sixth time in franchise history all six defensemen registered a point in the same game and the first instance since a 7-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on November 21, 2015.

Washington extended their lead over the Carolina Hurricanes, who visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 PM ET (NHL Network nationally), by 12 points for first place in the Metropolitan Division with a game in hand after Saturday’s NHL slate ends. The Capitals are also 11 clear of the Florida Panthers for first in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.

Next game: Sunday vs. Edmonton Oilers (1 PM ET, TNT, truTV)

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077

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