Capitals seek to extend point streak to 11 games

GOLDEN KNIGHTS (9-5-3) at CAPITALS (12-2-3)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSWA, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV
The Game
The Washington Capitals will look for their sixth win in a row when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

The Capitals are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games, outscoring opponents 46-30.
The Golden Knights, who are playing the first of back-to-back games before concluding a four-game road trip at the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, are 1-0-3 in their past four games and 5-2-3 in their past 10.

Players to watch

Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is 5-1-1 with a 2.24 goals-against-average, .925 save percentage and one shutout in his past seven starts.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"We're playing against probably the best team in the League right now. They've been playing good the last 3-4 weeks. They're just cruising. They're playing well. Every game they play hard and [Saturday's] going to be a good test, so hopefully we play well and get a chance to get some points." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant
"Some games I've liked better than others. … The one nice thing is at least the winning has been consistent, and at least gathering points and being competitive on a nightly basis even when you're not on top of your game." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone
Brandon Pirri -- Cody Eakin -- Cody Glass
William Carrier --
Nicolas Roy
-- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Nicolas Hague
-- Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill - Nick Holden
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Deryk Engelland
Injured:Alex Tuch (upper body)
Suspended:Valentin Zykov

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Brendan Leipsic -- Nic Dowd -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Radko Gudas
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched:Tyler Lewington
Injured:Richard Panik (upper body), Carl Hagelin (upper body)

Status report

The Golden Knights did not hold a morning skate. … Dowd returns after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Reirden said Hagelin is day to day and Panik could return as early as Monday against the Arizona Coyotes.

Stat pack

Karlsson has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games. ... Fleury needs two wins to reach 450 in the NHL. ... Vegas is 9-0-1 when holding opponents to three or fewer goals. … Washington is 10-0-1 when holding opponents to three or fewer goals. ... Vrana has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past six games. ... Wilson has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a three-game multipoint streak. ... Kuznetsov has five assists in his past two games.