Stars at Capitals preview

STARS (38-27-8) at CAPITALS (41-24-7)
7 p.m. ET; FS-SW+, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The Stars, 0-3-2 in their past five games, are two points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference; Colorado has a game in hand. Dallas also is two points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the second wild card; The Avalanche have five more regulation/overtime wins than the Ducks.
The Stars have not lost six straight since they went 0-4-2 from Feb. 19-March 1, 2015.
Goaltender Kari Lehtonen will start; Ben Bishop injured his left knee in a 4-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said.
The Capitals, 6-3-0 in their past nine games, lead the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points for first place in the Metropolitan Division; the Penguins play at the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Stars forward Tyler Seguin has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is one goal from passing Jari Kurri (601) for sole possession of 19th place on the NHL's all-time list.

They said it

"For me, we're still in this fight. … But whatever happens today, happens. We get back home. We fight like crazy. We've got to win our home games. That's obvious." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
"I watched their game against Winnipeg [on Sunday]. That was a playoff game. That was a physical, in-your-face-game. They just didn't get the result. They had lots of chances." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz on the Stars

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Devin Shore -- Jason Dickinson -- Mattias Janmark
Remi Elie -- Gemel Smith
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Julius Honka -- Stephen Johns
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Dillon Heatherington
Kari Lehtonen
Mike McKenna
Scratched:Ben Bishop (left knee), Jason Spezza (back), Brett Ritchie (lower body)
Injured:Marc Methot (hand), Martin Hanzal (back)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Brett Connolly -- Travis Boyd -- Jakub Vrana
Chandler Stephenson -- Jay Beagle -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Michal Kempny -- Jakub Jerabek
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Alex Chiasson
Injured:Brooks Orpik (lower body), Evgeny Kuznetsov (upper body)

Status report

The Stars will play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Orpik will be a game-time decision. … Kuznetsov won't play, but is expected to accompany the Capitals on their upcoming three-game road trip.

Stat pack

The Stars have scored two goals or fewer in 13 of their past 17 games. … Carlson and Klingberg are tied for the League lead in points among defensemen (59).