After taking 3 out of 4 from the Capitals and Islanders at home, the Penguins hope to do the same or better on the road starting Tuesday in Washington.
Tristan Jarry, who is beginning to round into last season's all-star form, is expected to make his sixth straight start in goal. It will be his third against the Caps in 9 days which is fine by him. "The way it is this year, you're going to see 'em twice as much," Jarry reasons.
The difference, though, is that after this week the Penguins won't play their final two game the Capitals again for two months. So I asked Mike Sullivan if these games in Washington have more a sense of urgency.
"Oh I don't know," Sullivan said, "the stakes get higher with every game you play, you have less opportunity to grab points along the way to establish yourself in the standings and solidify a playoff spot. These are all important games."
What's important against the Caps is to not give them a lot of power plays because it can be deadly and the Penguins penalty killing unit is sixth worst in the NHL. The weird thing is, the Pens PK has been effective against Washington, allowing just 2 goals on 15 power plays. That's 87 percent.
Against everyone else, it's just 69 percent.
Sullivan just hopes they can keep it up in DC. "They have one of the best goal scorers of his generation and maybe of all time in Ovechkin," Sullivan says. "What makes that power play unique is that he's not the only threat; they have multiple threats," referring to the likes of Nik Backstrom, TJ Oshie, and point man John Carlson, plus now they can add Zdeno Chara's booming shot should they choose.
Speaking of Chara, it still seems strange seeing him in a Washington uniform. It was even more strange to see the 6-9 Chara get decked by a Sam Lafferty check last week
Even though the Penguins lost the game, 3-1, it was a big hit with Lafferty's teammates like Marcus Pettersson. "I think it was pretty cool to see him hit Chara like that."
Pettersson also thinks that while it was also pretty cool to take 3 of the first 4 games against the Caps the season series can change in a hurry. "It's going to be the first time going to Washington. We know each other well now and even though the rivalry was already really pumped up I think it ramps up each and every game this season; there are so many games (between the two)."
Right now, the Pens trail the Caps by two points, although they do have a game in hand.
