Devils at Capitals preview

DEVILS (25-33-9) AT CAPITALS (39-21-7)
7 p.m.; NHLN, SN, NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Capitals, who have outscored opponents 23-13 during the five-game win streak, can move into sole possession of first place in Metropolitan Division, ahead of the New York Islanders, with one point.
Alex Ovechkin needs one point to become the 49th NHL player with 1,200. He has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.
The Devils are on a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and are 5-9-2 in their past 16 games. They have scored two goals or fewer in five of their past six games.

Players to watch

Devils forward Travis Zajac needs one point for 500 in the NHL.
Capitals goalie Braden Holtby is 5-1-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in his past six games.

They said it

"What I'm really proud of is guys are coming in and they're really showing what they can do at this level, and I think that's important. And although we haven't gotten the wins in those last four games, we've certainly deserved better than we've gotten result-wise." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"It seems like we're kind of getting into that form that you want to be in going down the stretch. I'd say about a month ago it seemed like we were getting one period of solid play [a game]. I think that's bumped up to two and plus now." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie

Devils projected lineup

Kenny Agostino -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Stefan Noesen -- Blake Coleman -- Drew Stafford
Nick Lappin -- Michael McLeod -- Joey Anderson
John Quenneville -- Blake Pietila -- Kurtis Gabriel
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Connor Carrick
Egor Yakovlev -- Steven Santini
Mackenzie Blackwood
Cory Schneider
Scratched:None
Injured:Jesper Bratt (lower body), Miles Wood (ankle), Pavel Zacha (upper body), Taylor Hall (knee), Nathan Bastian (upper body), Nico Hischier (upper body), Sami Vatanen (illness), Mirco Mueller (left shoulder), Kevin Rooney (illness)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky -- Nic Dowd -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Dmitrij Jaskin, Chandler Stephenson, Christian Djoos
Injured:None

Status report

Quenneville is expected to play after missing four games because of an upper-body injury. … Bratt, injured during a 2-1 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, is considered week-to-week. ... Hynes said Vatanen and Rooney could play against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Stat pack

Ovechkin is three goals from tying Brendan Shanahan (656) for 13th place on the NHL all-time list, and one power-play goal from tying Phil Esposito (246) for fifth-place all-time. … Carlson is two assists from becoming the third defenseman in Washington history with consecutive 50-assist seasons (Scott Stevens, 1986-89; Larry Murphy, 1986-88).