Capitals 5, Penguins 3 on October 7, 2026

Recap

On October 7, 2026, the Washington Capitals defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 at Capital One Arena in Alex Ovechkin's final NHL home opener. Anthony Beauvillier scored on a breakaway just 23 seconds into the first period for his 300th NHL point. Bryan Rust answered at 1:19 in his season debut after missing the first three games with an upper-body injury. Tom Wilson put Washington ahead for good with a wrist shot from the slot at 11:51 of the first after a no-look feed from Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Dubois made it 3-1 early in the second when he converted off a turnover behind the Pittsburgh net. Alex Tuch finished a 2-on-0 rush with Wilson to stretch the lead to 4-1 at 13:14 of the second. Tommy Novak and Nicholas Robertson scored in the final five minutes of the middle frame to pull the Penguins within 4-3. Ryan Leonard restored the two-goal cushion on the power play at 3:55 of the third. Wilson finished with a goal and two assists, Dubois had a goal and an assist, and Logan Thompson stopped 27 shots. Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for Pittsburgh. The Capitals earned their first win in a home opener since 2021.

Scoring

Washington Capitals won 5–3 at Capital One Arena.

Who scored

• Anthony Beauvillier Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Dylan Strome (3)
• Bryan Rust Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Ben Kindel (2), Samuel Girard (3)
• Tom Wilson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Pierre-Luc Dubois (3)
• Pierre-Luc Dubois Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Tom Wilson (2)
• Alex Tuch Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Tom Wilson (3)
• Tommy Novak Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: none
• Nick Robertson Goal (3) Tip-In, assists: Kaedan Korczak (4), Blake Lizotte (1)
• Ryan Leonard Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Jordan Kyrou (1), Cole Hutson (1)

Goalies

• Arturs Silovs stopped 22 of 27 for Pittsburgh Penguins.
• Logan Thompson stopped 27 of 30 for Washington Capitals.

Tom Wilson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Pierre-Luc Dubois (3) That made the score 1–2 in the 1st, and Washington Capitals stayed ahead.