Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist each and Logan Thompson made 18 saves in the Washington Capitals' 4-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

Jakob Chychrun will face the Senators for the first time since being dealt to the Washington Capitals on July 1 in exchange for veteran defenceman Nick Jensen. Chychrun, who suited up for 94 games with Ottawa after being dealt here in March 2023 from the Arizona Coyotes, has been having a standout year with the Caps.

The Capitals will look to keep trending in the right direction against Ottawa, as Jakob Chychrun makes his return for the first time since being traded.

The Capitals are shaking things up on the top-6, with Pierre-Luc Dubois replacing Dylan Strome as Alex Ovechkin's center. Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson will play between Strome, while Aliaksei Protas moves to that top line.

The Capitals will stick with their shaken-up lines from Saturday, with Taylor Raddysh playing on the top line and Connor McMichael centering the third line. Charlie Lindgren will start.

Here are the lines: Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson Taylor Raddysh-Lars Eller-Ethen Frank Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Andrew Mangiapane Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson

In goal, Logan Thompson and Hunter Shepard worked in both nets, with Charlie Lindgren not skating as he recovers from an upper-body injury he suffered in Friday's loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Lindgren remains on the IR, but Carbery said he’s progressing well and they will see if he can be activated Saturday.

The Buffalo Sabres return home from a trip out west and face a tough test against the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on Monday night. Washington has 55 points, 22 ahead of last-place Buffalo, which went 1-2-1 on its trip and has lost three straight (0-2-1) after winning three in row.

This game started with some stupidity from both the Capitals and the officials. Pierre-Luc Dubois was called for a lazy hooking penalty on Quinn Hughes, which led to PLD getting frustrated and going right back at the Canucks’ captain with a couple of stick swings.

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 Ottawa Senators return home with a tall order as they take on the best team in the East and League — the Washington Capitals. Washington leads the league with a 0.716 save percentage at 63 points in 44 games.

Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Chychrun, Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals. John Tavares and Bobby McMann scored for the Leafs. Washington’s captain Ovechkin played his first game ...