The series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals has long been a streaky one. The playoff past of the two clubs has been well documented, with the Penguins winning seven of the eight post-season meetings. The teams’ regular season history is just as interesting.
Since the NHL’s season-ending lockout of 2004-05, the game’s two biggest starts have been a part of that rivalry, and each team has enjoyed a great deal of regular season success. At the same time, each team has had long runs of success against the other. If that paradigm holds true, the Penguins may be in for a long night against their rivals from the nation’s capital.
At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, when Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin first suited up in for the Pens and Caps, the Capitals were coached by Glen Hanlon. The Penguins, briefly under Eddie Olczyk, then followed by Michel Therrien, dominated Hanlon’s Capitals, winning eight of the nine games played during that part of his tenure.
When Bruce Boudreau replaced Hanlon in 2007, the Capitals fortunes began to reverse. With Boudreau at the helm, Pittsburgh, under Therrien and Dan Bylsma went just 4-8-4 against Washington, including a loss in the 2011 Winter Classic held at Heinz Field.
When Boudreau was fired in the fall of 2011, again the pendulum swung the other way, with Dale Hunter going 1-2 against the Penguins in his short tenure as the Capitals bench boss, and then Adam Oates going an incredible 0-7 against the Pens in his two seasons as head coach.
Since Barry Trotz and Mike Johnston took over their respective clubs at the start of the 2014-15 campaign, the Capitals have won three straight, with the Penguins scoring only one goal in that span.
“Washington’s had an edge over us,” said Johnston on Tuesday. “You don’t want them to have a psychological edge going into the playoffs, so certainly (tonight’s) game is a big game.”
Is another era of Capitals regular-season dominance upon us, or will Johnston’s Penguins be able to buck the trend and bring some parity to the matchup? Only time will tell.
The Penguins and Capitals will face off for the fourth and final time this regular season tonight at 8 p.m. With the top four teams in the Metropolitan Division packed so tightly in the standings, it’s very possible that these teams will meet in the postseason as well.
