Maple Leafs at Capitals preview

MAPLE LEAFS (39-20-7) vs. CAPITALS (36-21-7)
8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NHL.TV

Neither team has lost an outdoor game. The Capitals defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in the 2011 NHL Winter Classic and won 3-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Winter Classic. The Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout in the 2014 Winter Classic and 5-4 in overtime in the 2017 Centennial Classic.
Washington is tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Maple Leafs are in third place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Boston Bruins.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past four games.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is within a hat trick of his 600th NHL goal. Ovechkin would be the 20th player to score 600. He leads the NHL this season with 39.

They said it

"It would have been nice to get out there and get the Zamboni out there and everything would be done, but it's not and that's just the way it is. Whatever the ice conditions, wind conditions, all that stuff, it'll be the same for both teams and it'll be a good game." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on the windy conditions in Annapolis
"This is going to be my third [outdoor game], and I have experience about it. I always have fun. It doesn't matter that the ice is bad because the atmosphere is unbelievable. You have energy from the fans and you go and play." -- Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
Zach Hyman -- Tomas Plekanec -- William Nylander
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Leo Komarov -- Dominic Moore -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Matt Martin, Connor Carrick, Josh Leivo
Injured:Auston Matthews (shoulder)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- Andre Burakovsky
Chandler Stephenson -- Jay Beagle -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Christian Djoos
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek, Alex Chiasson, Travis Boyd
Injured:None

Status report

Matthews, Toronto's leading goal-scorer (28), will miss his fourth straight game but Babcock said he's skating every day. … Djoos returns to the lineup after being scratched Tuesday for the first time since Nov. 22.

Stat pack

The Maple Leafs have won 30 games when scoring first, tied for second in the League. Andersen is 3-0-1 in his past four starts with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. … … Ovechkin needs one goal for his ninth 40-goal season. Holtby has lost an NHL career-high six straight games (0-4-2, 5.20 goals-against average, .851 save percentage).