Panthers at Capitals preview

PANTHERS (12-7-5) at CAPITALS (16-4-5)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, FS-F, NHL.TV

The forward, who has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past six games, had 96 points (52 goals and 44 assists) for Washington in three seasons from 2016-19 and helped the Capitals win their first Stanley Cup championship in 2018. He signed a four-year contract with the Panthers on July 1 and leads them with 11 goals.
Florida has lost two straight games after going 5-1-0 in its previous six.
The Capitals have scored two goals during a two-game winless streak (0-1-1) after outscoring their opponents 67-46 while going 13-1-2 in their previous 16 games.

Players to watch

Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has five points (three goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past eight games.

They said it

"I want a great start. We want the puck management part of it, let's keep it, let's put it in good areas. [Washington] likes to hang on to the puck. We've got to get it back. We've got to earn it back. We've got to be good in the battle areas. We want to make sure that we're better defending the rush as a team and tighten up that area." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville
"I think they're a really dangerous team. When I watch them play, they're explosive offensively. They spread out their talent through their lineup. Their defense is playing as well as I've seen them play the last few years." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden on the Panthers

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman
Brett Connolly -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Frank Vatrano -- Dominic Toninato -- Evgenii Dadonov
Brian Boyle -- Noel Acciari -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Anton Stralman
Mark Pysyk --
Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Scratched: None
Injured: Jayce Hawryluk (upper body), MacKenzie Weegar (upper body)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Richard Panik -- Chandler Stephenson -- Travis Boyd
Beck Malenstyn -- Nic Dowd -- Brendan Leipsic
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Radko Gudas
Braden Holtby
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched: Christian Djoos
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (upper body), Carl Hagelin (upper body)
Suspended: Garnet Hathaway

Status report

Backstrom will miss his third game in a row and remains day-to-day. He participated in the morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey. Dowd returns after missing five straight games because of an upper-body injury. Hathaway will serve the third of a three-game suspension for a spitting incident involving Anaheim Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson on Nov. 18.

Stat pack

Florida has scored 33 third-period goals, which is the second in the NHL. Yandle ranks second among NHL defensemen in assists (11) and third in points (12) since Nov. 2. … Ovechkin needs one power-play goal to tie Teemu Selanne (255) for third place on the NHL all-time list. Carlson has 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in his past nine games. Kuznetsov has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games.