Capitals at Hurricanes preview

CAPITALS (18-9-3) at HURRICANES (13-13-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Ovechkin had points in 13 consecutive games from Jan. 1 to Feb. 1, 2007. He has 19 points (13 goals, six assists) during his current streak, including a hat trick in a 6-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Forward Tom Wilson will return for the Capitals after missing three games with a concussion. Goalie Braden Holtby will start for Washington, which has won three in a row and is 10-2-0 in its past 12 games.
This is the second of back-to-back games for Carolina, which lost 6-4 at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Hurricanes have lost back-to-back games and are 1-4-1 in their past six.

Players to watch

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past seven games.
Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov had his first two-goal game in the NHL on Thursday. He was the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.

They said it

"If [Wilson] can pick up where he left off prior to the injury, he's going to help any line he's on. The speed he brings, the compete element, the intensity on the forecheck. He's shooting the puck as well as he ever has. He's going to get some chances from [center Evgeny] Kuznetsov for sure." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden on forward Tom Wilson's return
"We needed much more out of certain guys and it didn't happen. Svechnikov shouldn't be our leader on the ice. That's something we've got to address. We've got older guys that need to step up. The guys we count on are making mistakes. That's the big problem." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour on Carolina's loss at Montreal

Capitals projected lineup

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

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jordan Martinook -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Janne Kuokkanen
-- Victor Rask -- Brock McGinn
Andrei Svechnikov -- Lucas Wallmark -- Justin Williams
Warren Foegele -- Clark Bishop -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan -- Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury -- Dougie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
Scott Darling
Scratched:Trevor van Riemsdyk
Injured:Jordan Staal (concussion), Curtis McElhinney (lower body), Micheal Ferland (upper body)

Status report

Djoos had thigh surgery Thursday after sustaining an injury against the Red Wings. Reirden said Djoos will miss "a substantial number of weeks." … The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate, though Staal and Ferland took the ice after Washington's morning skate.

Stat pack

The Capitals have scored at least four goals in seven of their past eight games. Ovechkin needs one power-play goal to pass Mario Lemieux (236) and tie Brendan Shanahan (237) for sixth all-time in the NHL. ... Aho has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in eight games against Washington. The Hurricanes have scored two power-play goals in their past seven games.