Islanders at Capitals preview

ISLANDERS (24-10-3) at CAPITALS (27-8-5)
1 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV

Ovechkin, tied for third in the NHL with 24 goals this season, needs two to tie Selanne (684) for 11th place all-time. He's had success against the Islanders throughout his career, scoring 36 goals in 55 games.
The Capitals are 5-3-0 in their past eight games and 11-4-0 in their past 15.
New York is coming off a 3-1 win at the Minnesota Wild on Sunday but is 1-2-1 in its past four games after going 4-1-0 in its previous five. The Islanders won both visits to Washington last season under Barry Trotz, who coached Washington to the Stanley Cup in 2018 before resigning and joining New York.

Players to watch

Islanders center Mathew Barzal has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games.
Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"We have a chance to finish the year against the class of the League. You look at Washington and there's not any piece that they're missing. They've got size, they've got skill, they've got experience. They've won. They're pretty well the total package. The one thing they don't have over us is probably a little bit of size." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"They do give up some of the most end zone time of anybody in the League. … So, you can get there, but it's a matter of getting to the inside and making sure you're getting in situations where you can create an advantage and attack. So, those will be some things we focus on going into this game and obviously a system we're familiar with and hope to be able to match their work ethic tomorrow." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Derick Brassard
Ross Johnston -- Josh Bailey -- Jordan Eberle
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Leo Komarov
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched:Noah Dobson, Michael Dal Colle
Injured:Cal Clutterbuck (wrist)

Capitals projected lineup

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

Status report

The Islanders did not practice Monday. …. Kempny and Wilson practiced Monday and could return after missing two games and one game, respectively. Oshie did not practice and will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Lee has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past nine games. The Islanders are 7-for-7 on the penalty kill in their past two games after allowing seven power-play goals in 19 chances in their previous five. … Carlson (13 goals, 37 assists in 40 games) is the fastest Capitals defenseman to reach 50 points, surpassing Mike Green (22 goals, 28 assists in 43 games) in 2008-09. The Capitals will try for their 466th win of the 2010s in their final game of 2019. They are already assured of leading the NHL in wins in this decade and finishing with the third-highest total in any decade, trailing only two 1970s powerhouses, the Montreal Canadiens (501) and Boston Bruins (487).