Capitals at Hurricanes preview

CAPITALS (27-9-5) at HURRICANES (24-14-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, FS-CR, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV

The Capitals forward is two goals from tying Teemu Selanne (684) for 11th place among NHL goal-scorers. The Washington captain has 92 points (41 goals, 51 assists) in 79 games against Carolina.
Goalie Ilya Samsonov will start for the Capitals, who lead the Metropolitan Division but have consecutive regulation losses for the first time this season. They're 1-3-0 in their past four games after going 4-1-0 in their previous five games.
The Hurricanes, going for their third straight win following a three-game losing streak, are 8-3-1 in their past 12 games.
Goalie Petr Mrazek will make his second consecutive start; he made 29 saves in a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, who has one assist in each of his past three games, has 60 points (15 goals, 45 assists) in 59 games against Carolina.
Hurricanes center Lucas Wallmark has nine points (four goals, five assists) in a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"Obviously, any time you go through a series, and especially when you're on the losing end of it like we were, it always leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth. For us, it's something to focus on. Hopefully a lively building and a real good opponent we've struggled with will bring us to a new level tonight." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden, whose team lost to the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round last season.
"When you play a team like this, everyone knows you better be on point or it's going to be a tough night. This team [was] the Stanley Cup champs two years ago. It's no secret we're up for a big challenge." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Richard Panik
Brendan Leipsic -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Jonas Siegenthaler -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Michal Kempny -- Radko Gudas
Ilya Samsonov
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Travis Boyd
Injured: Christian Djoos (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Staal -- Warren Foegele
Ryan Dzingel -- Erik Haula -- Martin Necas
Brock McGinn -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Jake Gardiner -- Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury -- Joel Edmundson
Petr Mrazek
James Reimer
Scratched: Trevor van Riemsdyk
Injured:None

Status report

Van Riemsdyk will be a healthy scratch for the third straight game.

Stat pack

Ovechkin has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. … The Capitals are 13-0-2 when leading after the first period. … Teravainen has 14 assists in his past 11 games. Aho has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 14 games against Washington.