Pittsburgh @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 12, 2019 ) Washington 3, Pittsburgh 5

Two of the best players of this era in the NHL come into a showdown at the top of their games Sunday afternoon when Alex Ovechkin and the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals host Sidney Crosby and the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin registered 11 of his 37 goals in the last five games and Crosby has scored four times while setting up seven others in six contests since returning from sports hernia surgery.

Ovechkin, who was suspended for Monday’s game at Montreal for sitting out All-Star weekend, had a goal Wednesday and scored twice in Friday’s 5-3 victory at Ottawa to pass Mark Messier for eighth on the NHL’s all-time scoring list with 695 as the Capitals won for the fifth time in six contests. “He was on, he was sharp, he was ready to go,” Washington coach Todd Reirden told reporters of Ovechkin. “He stepped away from the All-Star Game to prepare himself to make a run the second half here and get himself ready to push our team to the ultimate goal for our group, which is a Stanley Cup.” Crosby scored the overtime winner Friday to beat Philadelphia 4-3, and added two assists for his third multi-point contest since returning from a two-month absence, as the Penguins remained six points behind the Capitals with a game in hand. “We’ve got a lot of division games, tough opponents,” Crosby told reporters after Pittsburgh improved to 7-2-0 in its last nine games. “Every point is crucial. I think you always look at this time of year when your team has to elevate (its) game, everyone else is doing the same. So we’re going to try to do that.”

TIME: 12:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (32-14-5): Evgeni Malkin matched Crosby with a goal and an assist in Friday’s victory and leads the team with 53 points - six of them coming in the past four contests. Right wing Bryan Rust recorded his third goal in four games in Ottawa to push his team-leading total to 22 and All-Star defenseman Kris Letang scored once and set up another Friday to improve to 33 points - 11 behind Rust. All-Star Tristan Jarry (17-8-1, .928 save percentage) made big saves in the third period Friday for the win while Matt Murray (15-6-4, .900) has won five straight decisions with a .925 SP in that span.

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (35-12-5): Ovechkin tied Boston’s David Pastrnak for the league lead with 37 goals entering Saturday and his 54 points are second on the team behind All-Star defenseman John Carlson (62), who had two assists Friday. Forward Jakub Vrana scored eight of his 23 goals and 13 of his 44 points in 11 games during January while veteran center Nicklas Backstrom boasts 13 of his 40 points in the past 14 contests. Rookie netminder Ilya Samsonov (16-2-1, .925 SP) continues to shine after winning all six outings last month with a .944 SP, and is expected to get the start Sunday.

OVERTIME

1. Washington RW Tom Wilson owns three goals and four assists during a six-game point streak.

2. Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz logged 16 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time Friday after missing the previous 16 games with a lower-body injury.

3. This is the first meeting in 2019-20 after the Penguins won three of the four matchups last season.

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Penguins 3