Capitals at Coyotes preview

CAPITALS (15-9-3) at COYOTES (13-11-2)
9 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, NBCSNWA, NHL. TV

Hill is 4-0-0 with an 0.56 goals-against average, one shutout and a .977 save percentage in five games. This will be his fourth consecutive start. Arizona's top two goalies, Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper, are out with lower-body injuries.
The Capitals have lost their past two games after winning seven in a row. They will be without forward Tom Wilson, who sustained an upper-body injury during a 5-3 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
The Coyotes had a five-game winning streak from Oct. 23-Nov. 2. They haven't had two winning streaks of at least five games in the same season since 2011-12.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has eight goals and five assists during a nine-game point streak. He has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 17 games against Arizona.
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller has five points (two goals, three assists) in three games since Nick Schmaltz, acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 25, was moved to center on the top line with Keller and Alex Galchenyuk. Prior to that, Keller had one goal in 13 games.

They said it

"We think we're pretty good on the power play. We just need to be better, and that's on the (penalty kill), too." - Defenseman John Carlson on the Capitals going 1-for-9 on the power play in their past two games
"It's been exciting for me. You want the team to get the win, but on a personal note it's been fun. When you're not giving up goals, it's a full team effort. There's no goalie who can run the whole thing by himself. … (but) when I got called up last year, I knew in my mind I could play at this level." - Coyotes goaltender Adin Hill

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Andre Burakovsky
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitrij Jaskin -- Nic Dowd -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Christian Djoos
Pheonix Copley
Braden Holtby
Scratched:Madison Bowey
Injured:T.J. Oshie (concussion), Brooks Orpik (lower body), Tom Wilson (upper body)

Coyotes projected lineup

Alex Galchenyuk -- Nick Schmaltz -- Clayton Keller
Richard Panik -- Derek Stepan -- Christian Fischer
Mario Kempe -- Brad Richardson -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Lawson Crouse -- Nick Cousins -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Kevin Connauton
Jakob Chychrun -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Alex Goligoski -- Jordan Oesterle
Adin Hill
Calvin Pickard
Scratched:Conor Garland, Ilya Lyubushkin
Injured:Antti Raanta (lower body), Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Michael Grabner (eye), Jason Demers (lower body), Christian Dvorak (upper body)

Status report

Wilson is listed as day to day. Oshie is skating on his own in Washington. … Raanta did not practice Wednesday but is expected back soon. Kuemper is practicing again. Grabner is listed as day to day.

Stat pack

Ovechkin needs one power-play goal to tie Brendan Shanahan (237) for sixth place on the NHL all-time list. Backstrom has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past four games. This will be Copley's 10th NHL start and his first against Arizona. … Arizona has allowed one goal or fewer in its past three games. Schmaltz has five points (two goals, three assists) in four games with Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Capitals 4-1 at Capital One Arena on Nov. 11.