Ekman-Larsson participated in the Coyotes' morning skate but his status remains uncertain.
He sustained a lower-body injury Saturday during a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Ekman-Larsson leads the Coyotes in scoring with 45 points.
"He was in good spirits this morning, got through the skate and we'll re-evaluate," coach Dave Tippett said. "Hopefully he's good to go tonight. He's one of our top players in the lineup and that's a good thing for us. You never like to miss top players and hopefully he'll be good to go."
Washington is the first stop for the Coyotes on their five-game road trip and Tippett wants to set a tone for the trip right away. Arizona is five points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference.
"We've got to play well as a group," Tippett said. "We have to have a real strong, simple mindset to do little things right and give ourselves a chance to win."
Capitals forward Marcus Johansson was not present at the morning skate because of an illness but is probable to play against the Coyotes, according to coach Barry Trotz.
"We expect him to show up tonight and be ready to go," Trotz said. "He felt a little under the weather this morning. We gave him some meds and we'll see how he is later today. Right now he's probable."
If Johansson doesn't play, Mike Richards would replace him as center on the third line and Michael Latta would shift from right wing to center on the fourth line.
Louis Domingue will start in goal for Arizona. He is 12-9-4 with a 2.67 GAA and .913 save percentage in 25 games this season.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby will make his 48th start. He leads the NHL with 37 wins.
Here are the projected lineups:
COYOTES
Tobias Rieder - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker
Max Domi - Martin Hanzal - Anthony Duclair
Jordan Martinook - Brad Richardson - Shane Doan
Kyle Chipchura - Tyler Gaudet - Viktor Tikhonov
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Connor Murphy
Kevin Connauton - Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck - Zbynek Michalek
Louis Domingue
Niklas Treutle
Injured: Boyd Gordon (upper body), Mike Smith (abdominal surgery), Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone), Anders Lindback (lower body)
Scratched: Jarred Tinordi, Nicklas Grossman
CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Justin Williams
Andre Burakovsky - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie
Jason Chimera - Marcus Johansson - Tom Wilson
Brooks Laich - Mike Richards - Michael Latta
Matt Niskanen - Karl Alzner
Nate Schmidt - John Carlson
Brooks Orpik - Dmitry Orlov
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Injured: Jay Beagle (upper body)
Scratched: Stanislav Galiev, Taylor Chorney
Status update: Smith is with the Coyotes on their five-game road trip. He was on the ice during the morning skate but did not face shots.
Who's hot:Ovechkin has four points in the past two games. … Kuznetsov has six points in his past four games. … Domi has six points in his past three games. … Stone has four points in the past three games.
