Capitals at Bruins preview

CAPITALS (26-12-4) at BRUINS (25-14-4)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NESN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The Bruins last defeated the Capitals 4-2 on March 29, 2014.
Boston will look to extend its season-long winning streak to six games. The Bruins last won six in a row from Feb. 27 to March 10, 2018.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL with 30 goals. He has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past 10 games after he had 23 points (17 goals, six assists) during a 14-game point streak.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"I don't know, we just maybe [have] luck maybe. But it's a really good opponent, hard team to play against and it's nice when you get a win." -- Washington forward Alex Ovechkin on the 13-game winning streak against Boston
"I think part of it is we end up chasing the game a lot against them and it just makes it that much more difficult against a good goaltender, they start to smell blood. So some of the things we've done recently against other teams is start better at home, so that's the first thing tonight." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on ending the 13-game losing streak to the Capitals

Capitals projected lineup

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

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- David Backes
Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari -- Chris Wagner
Ryan Donato -- Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson -- Danton Heinen
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug -- John Moore
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched:Colby Cave, Steven Kampfer
Injured:Charlie McAvoy (lower body), Joakim Nordstrom (fractured fibula)

Status report

The Capitals held a full morning skate; the Bruins' skate was optional. … Backstrom returns after missing one game with an illness. … McAvoy is day to day and will miss his seventh straight game but could return Saturday.

Stat pack

Holtby is 11-0-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and .950 save percentage during Washington's winning streak against Boston. … The Bruins have lost their past six home games to the Capitals since a 3-0 victory March 6, 2014.