Pittsburgh Penguins At Washington Capitals Preview: Lineup Changes, Where To Watch

The Pittsburgh Penguins will play one of their biggest rivals on Wednesday night.

They're set to take on the Washington Capitals on the road after losing 3-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.

This will be the first of four meetings between the Penguins and Capitals this year, and it carries extra meaning. Alex Ovechkin announced on Monday that he will retire at the end of the 2026-27 season, making this one of the final matchups between him and Sidney Crosby. 

The Capitals are 1-1-0 to start the season. They beat the Carolina Hurricanes in their first game, then lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. This will be their first home game of the season. 

The Capitals were busy this offseason and made several additions, especially at forward. They traded for Jordan Kyrou and signed Alex Tuch in free agency. When healthy, they have one of the best forward groups in the entire NHL. 

It'll be a good test for a Penguins team that's trying to erase that stench from Monday against the Jets. Logan Thompson will start in goal for the Capitals. 

The Penguins held an optional morning skate on Wednesday, and head coach Dan Muse confirmed after the skate that Arturs Silovs will start in goal. Bryan Rust, who fully participated in Tuesday's practice, is a game-time decision. I think he has a good chance of playing.

Here are the expected lines and pairs:

Forwards

Lapierre-Crosby-Rakell

Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin

Koivunen-Kindel-Rust

Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson

Defensive pairs

Carlile-Karlsson

Girard-Korczak

van Riemsdyk-Letang

Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'

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