Anaheim enters tonight's contest with points in six consecutive games (3-0-3, 9 points) and seven of the last eight (4-1-3, 11 points). A stingy penalty-killing unit has risen to the challenge, not allowing a power-play goal in the last five games (16 consecutive kills). Following tonight's game, the Ducks will head to New Jersey to face the Devils on Monday, and then the Rangers on Tuesday, Islanders on Thursday and Penguins a week from tonight.
The Ducks opened their road trip with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Thursday. The night belonged to forward Kevin Roy, who became the second rookie in club history to score twice in less than three minutes. Roy's first career multi-goal game came in a span of 2:45 during the third period, the first since Bobby Ryan's hat trick on Jan. 8, 2009 at LA (two in 1:02, and two in 1:19, three total in 3:01). Defenseman Andy Welinski earned an assist on Andrew Cogliano's second-period goal to become the first Ducks rookie to record a point in his first two career games since defenseman Alex Grant from Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2013.
The Capitals have won two in a row and 10 of their last 13 overall (10-3-0), and currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has won five consecutive games at Capital One Arena (formerly Verizon Center) and its 13 victories on home ice rank tied for the league lead with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight's matchup represents their final home game before the holiday break, as the Caps will play the next four on the road.
With a goal and an assist in Washington's 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday, Alex Ovechkin passed Dave Taylor (1,069) for 63rd on the NHL's all-time points list. The 32-year-old left wing has nine points (3g/6a) in his last six games and has already tied last season's mark for even-strength goals (16). Ovechkin's 35 points (22g/13a) are tied with Evgeny Kuznetsov (10g/25a) for the team lead. Goaltender Braden Holtby enters tonight's game with an 18-7-0 record, 2.66 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 25 games this season. Right wing T.J. Oshie will miss his sixth consecutive game with an upper-body injury, while defenseman Brooks Orpik remains a game-time decision with an upper-body injury.
This marks the opener of a two-game season series between the Ducks and Caps, and the lone game played in Washington D.C. The Ducks have posted an all-time record of 16-12-5 against the Caps, including a 9-6-2 mark in the nation's capital. Ryan Getzlaf (17 points, 6g/11a) and Antoine Vermette (17 points, 7g/10a) co-lead active Ducks in career scoring against Washington. The series finale will take place Tuesday, March 6 at Honda Center.
