Capitals at Ducks preview

CAPITALS (32-19-7) at DUCKS (22-27-9)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, PRIME, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Ovechkin scored his NHL leading 39th goal in a 5-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Wayne Gretzky (12), Marcel Dionne (10) and Mario Lemieux (10) are the others with at least 10 40-goal seasons.
Washington is second in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the New York Islanders.
The Ducks are 3-16-4 since Dec. 18 and 1-8-0 with nine goals in their past nine games. They're seven points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Capitals forward T.J. Oshie has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games.
Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in a five-game point streak against the Capitals. He had a season-high three points (one goal, two assists) against Washington on Dec. 2.

They said it

"Their work ethic seems to have bumped up a level. They're playing a lot more physical." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden on the Ducks since general manager Bob Murray replaced the fired Randy Carlyle last Sunday
"Something is going to have to go off a butt here sooner or later. In order for that to happen, you have to get there." -- Ducks coach Bob Murray on finding offense

Capitals projected lineup

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

Ducks projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Corey Perry
Daniel Sprong -- Adam Henrique -- Troy Terry
Devin Shore -- Derek Grant -- Jakob Silfverberg
Max Jones -- Ryan Kesler -- Carter Rowney
Cam Fowler -- Michael Del Zotto
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Jaycob Megna -- Brandon Montour
Kevin Boyle
Ryan Miller
Scratched:Andy Welinski, Brian Gibbons
Injured:Patrick Eaves (illness), John Gibson (upper body), Chad Johnson (head), Nick Ritchie (illness)

Status report

Holtby will start his third straight game with Copley facing the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. … The Ducks assigned forward Kevin Roy to San Diego of the American Hockey League on Saturday.

Stat pack

Carlson needs two assists for 300 in his NHL career. … The Ducks have scored one goal or fewer 22 times this season.