Penguins in a groove, face struggling Capitals

It's taken nearly half the season, but the Pittsburgh Penguins, who host the Metropolitan Division rival Washington Capitals on Tuesday, might have hit their stride.

Pittsburgh has won three in a row and is 7-1-1 in its past nine games after two months of inconsistency -- including a four-game losing streak (0-2-2) to start December before the recent stretch.

"We needed a strong (finish to) December," said Penguins third-line center Lars Eller, who scored twice Sunday in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders.

"I felt like we had it in us. We needed to tighten up (a few) holes in our game. Now, it feels like we're finding our game as a team, our identity as a team."

There was a lot of roster turnover during the offseason after president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas was hired by Pittsburgh. It seemed to represent an upgrade, but the team has taken a while to get on the same page.

Eller is one of the newcomers on a revamped bottom-six look among the forwards.

Even with the changes, the Penguins have been top heavy, with their returning top players providing an overabundance of the offense. Now, the team is getting some secondary scoring.

"It's always good when the big guys don't have to score and you can still win," said fourth-line center Noel Acciari, another newcomer who had the Penguins' other goal Sunday.

Two top players and future Hall of Famers -- Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin -- renew their longtime rivalry Tuesday. Crosby had two goals in the teams' first meeting, a 4-0 Penguins road win Oct. 13.

Ovechkin is tied for the team lead with 21 points but is fourth with seven goals and has one point, a goal, over the past four games. Crosby leads his team with 20 goals and is second with 36 points.

The Penguins have the same point total (40) as Washington and can pull ahead of the Capitals with any sort of win. The winner could move into an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The Capitals are also looking for a consistently higher level. They have lost four in a row (0-2-2) and were 5-5-4 in December.

Saturday, Washington fell into a couple familiar traps in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.

First, the Capitals fell behind by two goals.

"We just have to be more conscious of our starts. Puts us behind the eight-ball a little bit," said Washington winger Beck Malenstyn, who scored his team's first goal.

After they were able to scramble back to tie the game, the Capitals couldn't close it.

Washington went to overtime or a shootout in seven of its 14 games in December, winning three. Those lost points could have put the team in a wild-card spot.

"There's some learning things there for us as a group when a game's tied and how we manage that situation," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said.

The Capitals also have had some trouble scoring. They have five goals during their four-game slide.

The Capitals seem likely to go with Darcy Kuemper in net with Charlie Lindgren injured and after Hunter Shepard was recalled and played Saturday.