Canadiens at Capitals preview

CANADIENS (10-5-3) at CAPITALS (14-2-4)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Capitals, 11-0-2 in their past 13 games and outscoring opponents 55-35, have had a 14-game point streak four times, most recently from Dec. 29, 2016-Jan. 23, 2017 (12-0-2). Their record point streak is 15 games (14-0-1) from Jan. 13-Feb. 10, 2010.
Washington's 32 points is the highest total through 20 games in its history.
The Canadiens have won two straight and are 6-1-1 in their past eight games.
Goalie Carey Price, who will start, is one win from passing Harry Lumley (330) for sole possession of 26th place on the NHL all-time list.

Players to watch

Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber has five points (three goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.
Capitals defenseman John Carlson has seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game point streak.

They said it

"They're obviously one of the best, if not the best, team in the National Hockey League right now, so a really good test for our group. [We're] well rested, really no excuse for us not to come out. It should be a good game, we should have our skating legs. It's a tough challenge coming into this building and winning, but it should be fun for our group." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
"I think it's all about not really thinking about what happened, what's behind us. … When we're winning games like this there's no reason to look back, just looking forward for what's in front of us and focusing on each game coming up." -- Capitals forward Jakub Vrana on Washington's 13-game point streak

Canadiens projected lineup

Jonathan Drouin -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Tomas Tatar -- Nick Suzuki -- Artturi Lehkonen
Nick Cousins -- Nate Thompson -- Jordan Weal
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Mike Reilly, Christian Folin
Injured: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (groin)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Brendan Leipsic -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Radko Gudas
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Lewington
Ilya Samsonov
Braden Holtby
Scratched: None
Injured:Nic Dowd (upper body), Carl Hagelin (upper body)

Status report

Montreal assigned center Ryan Poehling to Laval of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Washington is expected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen after recalling Lewington from Hershey of the AHL on Friday. ... Dowd, who injured his hand in a 2-1 shootout win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, is day to day, as is Hagelin, who took part in the morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey.

Stat pack

Price is 7-14-5 with a 3.34 goals-against-average and .890 save percentage in 26 games against the Capitals. … Ovechkin, who has 53 points (31 goals, 22 assists) in 48 games against the Canadiens, needs three power-play goals to tie Teemu Selanne (255) for third place on the NHL all-time list.