One night after getting a goalie goal, the Pittsburgh Penguins (19-21-8) struggled to get a skater to score. The revamped and increasingly dominant Washington Capitals (31-10-5) smothered the Penguins’ every offensive hope and got just enough offense to pin down the Penguins for a 4-1 at Capital One Arena Saturday.

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas made a big decision last week by placing goalie Tristan Jarry, with three years remaining on his contract at $5.38M, on waivers.

Rather than ice a roster merely helping Ovi break Gretzky's record, the Caps have been one of the NHL's best. Here's how they threaded the needle.

Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist each and Logan Thompson made 18 saves in the Washington Capitals' 4-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins locker room was a mixture of sullen and encouraged. From coach Mike Sullivan to Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell, the internal reaction to their 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals was an expansive mixture of emotions.

The Penguins and Capitals renewed arguably the highest-profile rivalry of the salary-cap era on Saturday night.

Jakob Chychrun, Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored, Logan Thompson made 18 saves and the NHL-leading Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 for their fourth consecutive victory.

Letang (illness) will be a game-time decision Saturday versus Washington, per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. Letang missed Friday's 5-2 win over Buffalo due to the illness. He has seven goals, 17 points, 18 PIM, 71 hits and 45 blocks in 40 appearances in 2024-25. If Letang returns Saturday, then Ryan Graves will likely be a healthy scratch.

The Washington Capitals played host to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. The Caps came away with a 4-1 win over their Metro rivals.

WASHINGTON (AP) Jakob Chychrun ... Penguins: Even with defenseman Kris Letang back from his illness, they couldn’t keep the momentum going after beating Buffalo on Friday night and celebrating ...

by STEPHEN WHYNO, AP Hockey Writer TOPICS: WASHINGTON (AP ... Penguins: Even with defenseman Kris Letang back from his illness, they couldn’t keep the momentum going after beating Buffalo ...

Logan Thompson played well at the other end, and Rust's goal broke a shutout streak for him that was over 160 minutes at that point. The Penguins got 19 shots through to Thompson, but the Capitals blocked 18 other attempts and thwarted any second-chance opportunities, making it difficult for the Penguins to get too many grade-A looks.