Alex Tuch intercepted a pass from Declan Carlile at the Penguins blue line, entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-0 rush with Wilson and scored off a return pass to make it 4-1 at 13:14.
“He’s really smart,” Wilson said of Tuch. “Obviously, he’s got a ton of skill, but he puts himself in the right spots to create offense.”
Novak cut the deficit to 4-2 at 14:05. Evgeni Malkin hit the left post on a 2-on-1 rush and Novak knocked in the rebound from the slot.
Robertson pulled Pittsburgh to within 4-3 when he deflected Kaedan Korczak’s point shot past Thompson from the slot at 18:01.
“Maybe we just didn’t have our legs at the start, but I think we had a little bit of a pushback there in the second, so definitely want to look at the positives as well,” Penguins forward Ben Kindel said.
Ryan Leonard made it 5-3 when he scored from the top of the left face-off circle at 3:55 of the third period during a power play.
NOTES: Beauvillier’s goal was his 300th NHL point (147 goals, 153 assists). … This was the first time the Capitals earned their first win of a season in a home opener since a 5-1 victory against the New York Rangers on Oct. 13, 2021. … Jordan Kyrou had the primary assist on Leonard’s power-play goal for his first point with Washington. The forward was acquired in a trade from the St. Louis Blues for Connor McMichael, Milton Gastrin and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft (No. 16) on June 23. … Earlier in the day, Pittsburgh acquired defenseman Spencer Stastney in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers for forward Filip Hallander.