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 Capitals will revert their top-6 back to what it was at the start of the season as coach Spencer Carbery continues to look for a spark at 5-on-5. Alex Ovechkin will reunite with Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael, while Pierre-Luc Dubois will go back to centering Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson.

A third-period goal from Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust snaps goalie Logan Thompson’s scoreless streak at just shy of 120 minutes.

In the upcoming game against the Montreal Canadiens, which starts at 7:00 PM ET on Friday, can we bet on Connor McMichael to light the lamp for the Washington Capitals? Let’s dig into the most important stats and trends to determine which player props you should be strongly considering.

Connor McMichael and the Washington Capitals will play on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET, facing the Vancouver Canucks. If you’d like to make a wager on McMichael’s prop bets, we’ve got plenty of info to help you below.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Washington Capitals left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) celebrates his goal with center Connor McMichael (24 ...

NHL Game recap for the Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Washington Capitals game on January 18, 2025. Follow every play as it happens throughout the NHL season on CBS Sports and the CBS Sports app.

Protas, Dubois and McMichael had multi-point outings and Thompson stood tall again to help the Capitals past Pittsburgh, 4-1.

WASHINGTON -- Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals extended their point streak to 10 games with a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins probably don’t expect Joel Blomqvist to save their season. But just being reliable by saving a few shots is a fair hope for the rookie goaltender. That’s something would-be franchise netminder Tristan Jarry was not able to provide,

The Washington Capitals will look a bit different when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, with the top-6 getting another tweak and Charlie Lindgren officially back in business. Washington activated Lindgren off the injured reserve and re-assigned Hunter Shepard to the AHL's Hershey Bears.