The Penguins and Capitals are in a similar situation, trying to squeeze out more of the aging stars who sat out last season and return to the playoffs. Pittsburgh entered the 2023-24 season as the oldest team in the NHL with an average age of 32 years. Washington, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2014, has the second-oldest squad in the league at an average age of 31, despite having eight players under the age of 25.
However, the Capitals still have Ovechkin (38 years old), Nicklas Backstrom (35 years old), TJ Oshie (36 years old), John Carlson (33 years old), Evgeny Kuznetsov (31 years old), Tom Wilson ( The team relies heavily on its older core of players (29 years old). Just as the Penguins rely heavily on Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang (36), Bryan Rust (31), Guentzel (29), and now Karlsson (33).
Crosby and Malkin were the best players on the ice Friday and that was the difference in the game, but this is nothing new for either of them against the Capitals. Crosby had 88 points (30 goals, 58 assists) in 66 regular season games with Ovechkin, and Pittsburgh improved to 39-23-4 in those games. Malkin had 77 points (26 goals, 51 assists) in 59 regular season games with Washington.
Malkin’s four-point game was the 29th of his NHL career.
“He was right on the ice,” Crosby said. “He made some great plays. He had some early chances too, getting tries between the legs. On nights like this, he feels it, so he doesn’t set up opponents or He creates his own chances. Tonight he was right on top of the puck.”
Malkin opened the scoring with a goal 4:07 into the second period. Crosby scored power-play goals at 5:51 and 11:46 of the second, with assists from Malkin and Guentzel, respectively, extending Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-0. Malkin’s backcheck and pass to Smith led to the winning goal at 16:57 of the third period.
“He’s still a dominant player and I thought he was at his best tonight,” Sullivan said. “He sees the ice well. That play he made on Riley’s goal at the end was just an unbelievable pass. It started off the track and just tracked the puck from behind.
“He’s played on both ends of the rink. He competes hard. When he’s in the game, I think he’s the most dominant player in the league.”
It was a frustrating night for Ovechkin as a turnover in the defensive zone led to a goal by Malkin, and it was Washington’s first in 49 season openers and debut under first-year head coach Spencer Carberry. Overall it was a disappointing night as we suffered our first shutout loss. Just as they did after the Penguins lost their opening game, the Capitals will look to rebuild for Game 2 against the Calgary Flames here on Monday.
Ovechkin had four shots on goal in 18 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time.
“Just move on,” Ovechkin said. “We didn’t get the results, right? The men’s team was ready, but we’ll watch the video and try to play better in the next game.”
