NHL On Tap: Ovechkin continues record chase, Capitals host Utah

Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are two games on the schedule for Sunday, the final day of play before the 4 Nations Face-Off, including one televised nationally in the United States and Canada.

Games of the day

Utah Hockey Club at Washington Capitals (12:30 p.m. ET; Utah16, MNMT, SN)

Alex Ovechkin will have one last chance to close the gap on Wayne Gretzky for the NHL all-time goals record before the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. The Capitals forward has 26 goals (14 assists, 40 points) in 38 games this season and 879 goals overall, 15 behind Gretzky’s record of 894. Ovechkin, who is Washington captain, has scored in each of his past four games. He has six points (four goals, two assists) on a four-game point streak. With a win, the Capitals (36-11-7) can pull even with the Winnipeg Jets (81 points) for first in the NHL standings. Utah defensemen Olli Maatta and Juuso Valimaki will play their final game before representing Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Utah (23-23-9) will look to go into the break with a win after losing 7-3 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Forward Clayton Keller scored two goals and leads Utah with 59 points (20 goals, 39 assists) in 54 games.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens (1 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, NHLN, FDSNSUN)

There will be plenty of 4 Nations Face-Off participants taking part in the final NHL game before the tournament. Lightning forwards Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, defenseman Victor Hedman and coach Jon Cooper will all participate in the first best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Cirelli, Hagel and Point will play for Canada with Cooper as coach. Guentzel will play for the United States and Hedman for Sweden. Tampa Bay (30-20-4) can extend its winning streak to four games heading into the break after a 6-3 victory at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had three assists in the win and can extend his point streak to seven games (nine points; two goals, seven assists). Montreal forwards Joel Armia and Patrik Laine will play for Finland, and goalie Sam Montembeault will play for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Canadiens (25-25-5) have lost seven of their past eight games (1-6-1), including 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.