Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau returns to lineup

Forward Frederick Gaudreau returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup in Thursday’s road game against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington.

He opened the contest centering the fourth line between Colton Sceviour at left wing and Evan Rodrigues on the right wing.

He had missed the previous eight games because of an undisclosed ailment.

Before Thursday, Gaudreau had appeared in 13 games with the Penguins this season and scored four points (one goal, three assists).

“It for sure feels good to be back,” Gaudreau said via video conference following a practice in Cranberry on Wednesday. “Obviously, some of those thoughts were there for sure. It’s never fun to get injured. You got to go through rehab. It was good to see the team having success, but obviously, you feel like you’d like to be on the ice as well. But overall, it’s going well. It’s good to be on the ice.”

With Gaudreau back in the lineup, forward Mark Jankowski was scratched after being in the lineup for eight consecutive games.

Injured forwards Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev remain sidelined. Both accompanied the team on its on-going four-game road trip.

Line ’em up

The Penguins altered their lines slightly late in the course of Tuesday’s 3-1 home loss to the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena.

Specifically, Kasperi Kapanen took over as right wing on the second line while Jason Zucker was dropped to the right wing of the third line.

Those changes carried over to open Thursday’s game. Kapanen opened the contest with Jeff Carter at center and Jared McCann on the left wing. Meanwhile, Zucker lined up with Teddy Blueger at center and Zach Aston-Reese on left wing.

Kapanen’s ability to gain the offensive zone with momentum and set up scoring chances for either himself or teammates is an attribute that stands out to management.

“His sheer speed backs defensemen off,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “Most defensemen have to respect his speed and his wide speed. He poses such a threat to beat them wide that he backs defensemen off. Then he has the skillset to create off of that, whether he tries to continue to challenge with wide speed or whether he chooses to pull up and look for a late option. For me, his speed threat I think is unique. It’s dangerous. Opponents’ defensemen have to be respectful of that aspect of his game.”

Ovi out again

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was sidelined for the fourth connective game because of an undisclosed injury.

His absence Thursday marked the first time the Penguins have faced the Capitals without him since the future Hockey Hall of Famer entered the NHL in 2005.

The Penguins’ last game against the Capitals that did not include Ovechkin (or Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Malkin, for that matter) was April 4, 2004.

Led by two goals from forward Lasse Pirjeta, the Penguins defeated the Capitals, 4-3, at the Mellon Arena in the final game of the 2003-04 season. Goaltender Sebastien Caron made 27 saves on 30 shots in the victory that pitted the NHL’s two worst teams during that season against one another.

Two days later, the Capitals won the NHL’s draft lottery and the opportunity to select Ovechkin. The Penguins’ claimed the second pick and eventually chose Malkin.