'Star Sunday on NBC': 5 Storylines

The Washington Capitals will try for their fourth consecutive win when they play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the first game of an NBC Sports "Star Sunday" doubleheader (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS). The Capitals are 8-0-1 in their past nine games against the Rangers, including 3-0-0 this season.

Two Western Conference teams trying to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs face off in the second game. The Nashville Predators, who've struggled for the past month, visit the surging Minnesota Wild (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV).
Here are 5 storylines to keep an eye on:

Ovechkin keeps rolling

No NHL player since the start of the 2005-06 season has been as proficient at putting the puck in the net as Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who at age 33 remains the most prolific goal-scorer in the League. He became the first player in NHL history to score at least 45 goals in a season 10 times when he scored No. 45 on Friday in a 3-1 win at the New York Islanders. Ovechkin tops the NHL in goals and is in line to become the first player to lead the League in goals eight times; he and Bobby Hull share the record with seven. He's had good success against the Rangers during his career, scoring 33 goals in 55 games, and he's gotten hot again with seven goals in his past eight games.

Capitals pushing for first place

The victory Friday was the third in a row for the Capitals (37-21-7) and pulled them even in points with the Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan Division, though they've played one more game. Washington is 5-1-0 in its past six games and 9-3-1 in its past 13. Just as they did last season, the Capitals are coming together at the right time. Goalie Braden Holtby has won three of his past four starts after an up-and-down season and the offense is more than just Ovechkin -- seven other players have hit double figures in goals.

Rangers try to close strong

The Rangers (27-27-10) made it clear a long time ago that this would be a rebuilding season, one in which trying to win games under new coach David Quinn would be combined with breaking in a number of new players and trying to accumulate more young talent and draft picks. Center Mika Zibanejad is having the best season of his NHL career with 63 points (27 goals, 36 assists), and forward Chris Kreider's 26 goals are two shy of his NHL career high. Quinn has brought accountability to the Rangers, not hesitating to bench players if he's not happy with their effort. That effort has been there in most games -- last Sunday, for example, the Rangers twice trailed the Capitals by two goals but rallied to force overtime before losing 6-5. The task ahead of Quinn is to keep his team working hard for the final five weeks of the season while young players such as 19-year-old forward Filip Chytil (20 points; 10 goals, 10 assists) gain experience.

Predators looking for answers

Nashville (37-25-5) has one eye on the Winnipeg Jets, who lead them by one point for first place in the Central Division, and one eye on the St. Louis Blues, who are in third place, five points back. General manager David Poile added two forwards, Mikael Granlund and Wayne Simmonds, at the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday to try to spark the offense, but the Predators have lost their past two games (at St. Louis and Winnipeg) and are 6-7-1 since defeating the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Feb. 1. It's a big comedown for a team that won the Presidents' Trophy in 2017-18 and started this season 13-3-0.

Wild on upswing

Minnesota (32-27-6) passed a tough test on Saturday by defeating the Western Conference-leading Calgary Flames 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Not only did the Wild extend their winning streak to five games (and spoil Jarome Iginla Night), they maintained their one-point lead over the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the playoffs from the West. The biggest catalyst of late has been goalie Devan Dubnyk, who's won all five games during the streak, allowing eight goals. The offense has gotten a lift from the acquisition of forward Ryan Donato, who has seven points (two goals, five assists) in five games since coming in a trade from the Boston Bruins on Feb. 20.