Capitals at Bruins preview

CAPITALS (14-3-4) at BRUINS (12-3-4)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NESN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals are 11-1-2 in their past 14 games after losing 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Washington had not lost in regulation since a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 14.
Center Patrice Bergeron will be out for Boston with a lower-body injury.
The Bruins seek consecutive wins after ending a four-game winless streak (0-2-2) with a 4-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. The winless streak followed a 10-game point streak (8-0-2).
Boston is the only team in the NHL that has not lost in regulation at home this season (7-0-3).

Players to watch

Capitals defenseman John Carlson has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in a five-game point streak.
Bruins forward Charlie Coyle has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak.

They said it

"For the most part, we've been really consistent this year. That game we were off. The good thing about a back-to-back is we're right back at it tomorrow. Make some adjustments to our group for tomorrow and get prepared to take on obviously an excellent Boston team. -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden after losing to the Canadiens on Friday
"When you start getting caught up in stats, it starts to go downhill. I think the biggest thing with our group is we try to go game to game, focus more on the process and play consistently well every night. We have a good team." -- Bruins forward Brad Marchand

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Brendan Leipsic -- Travis Boyd - Richard Panik
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Radko Gudas
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched:None
Injured: Nic Dowd (upper body), Carl Hagelin (upper body)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Anders Bjork -- Charlie Coyle -- Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom -- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner
Trent Frederic -- Par Lindholm --
Paul Carey
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk -- Brandon Carlo
Urho Vaakanainen -- Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched:Patrice Bergeron (lower body), Steven Kampfer
Injured: Torey Krug (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body), David Backes (upper body), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate after playing Friday. … Dowd and Hagelin are day-to-day. … The Capitals recalled Boyd and Vanecek from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Saturday and sent down defenseman Tyler Lewington and goalie Ilya Samsonov. ... The Bruins placed Krug on injured reserve Saturday and called up Carey from Providence of the American Hockey League. ... Ritchie practiced Thursday and could be available.

Stat pack

Ovechkin needs two power-play goals to tie Teemu Selanne (255) for third place on the NHL all-time list. He has 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) in 48 games against the Bruins. … Holtby is 16-3-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average and .946 save percentage against Boston. … Marchand has four points (three goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak.