Blue Jackets at Capitals preview

BLUE JACKETS (8-6-1) at CAPITALS (7-4-3)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, NBCSWA, FS-O, NHL.TV

Carlson is tied for third in scoring in the NHL among defensemen, with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 14 games.
This will be the first game between the Blue Jackets and Capitals since Washington defeated Columbus in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round on the way to winning the Stanley Cup; The Blue Jackets won the first two games before the Capitals took the next four.
Washington looks to win three straight games for the first time this season; Columbus is 4-4-1 in its past nine games.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson has no points in his past five games.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past seven games and is one power play goal from tying Mario Lemieux (236) for seventh place on the NHL all-time list.

They said it

"Last year them stealing four in a row from us, that definitely fuels us a little bit." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski
"They are disappointed that we were the ones that ended their season. We've been on the other side of that. It's always a little bit of a rally cry within your own room. For us, we know that that's coming, and we've got to be prepared for that, but we've also got to continue to work on our game." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Riley Nash -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Markus Hannikainen
Lukas Sedlak -- Alex Wennberg -- Anthony Duclair
Ryan Murray -- Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara -- David Savard
Zach Werenski -- Scott Harrington
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Adam Clendening, Dean Kukan, Oliver Bjorkstrand
Injured:None

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Chandler Stephenson -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky -- Travis Boyd -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny -- Matt Niskanen
Dmitry Orlov -- Christian Djoos
Jonas Siegenthaler
-- Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Nic Dowd, Aaron Ness
Injured: John Carlson (lower body), Brooks Orpik (lower body)

Status report

Orpik was placed on long-term injured reserve on Friday. … The Capitals called up defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Aaron Ness from Hershey. Siegenthaler will make his NHL debut.

Stat pack

Bobrovsky is 7-10-4 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .900 save percentage against Washington. … Panarin has one assist in his past five games. … Columbus is 0-3-1 in its last four visits to Washington. … Holtby is 14-4-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .914 save percentage against the Blue Jackets … Kuznetsov has six points (one goal, five assists) in a five-game point streak.