Capitals at Avalanche preview

CAPITALS (8-7-3) at AVALANCHE (9-6-3)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV

Each Capitals forward was injured during a 3-1 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
Kuznetsov is Washington's leading scorer with 21 points (six goals, 15 assists). Lars Eller will replace him on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Oshie is the Capitals' fifth-leading scorer with 14 points (nine goals, five assists). Andre Burakovsky will replace him on the second line with Jakub Vrana and Nicklas Backstrom for Washington, 1-3-0 in its past four games.
Goalie Philipp Grubauer will start for the Avalanche against his former Capitals teammates. Colorado acquired him and defenseman Brooks Orpik from Washington for a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on June 22. The Avalanche bought out the final year of Orpik's contract and he re-signed with Washington.
Grubauer is 3-1-1 with a 3.56 goals-against average and .893 save percentage in five starts this season for Colorado, which looks to win its third straight following a five-game losing streak (0-4-1).

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has two assists in his past four games after he had nine points (six goals, three assists) in the previous seven games.
Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games and leads the NHL in scoring with 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists).

They said it

"It's something we've got to deal with, some adversity. We look forward to seeing some guys in some different spots they're not normally in tonight. It'll be a good challenge." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden
"It's going to be weird seeing the guys on the other end, but once the puck drops it's all about business. You've got to stop the puck, you've got to focus on the situation, read the game, that's all." -- Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer on facing Washington

Capitals projected lineup

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

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Alex Kerfoot -- Colin Wilson
Sheldon Dries -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
Sven Andrighetto -- Vladislav Kamenev -- Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Mark Barberio -- Patrik Nemeth
Philipp Grubauer
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched: Marko Dano, Nikita Zadorov
Injured: J.T. Compher (head), Matt Nieto (lower body)

Status report

Holtby will miss his third consecutive game … Samsonov was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League. … Andrighetto will return after missing six games with a lower-body injury.

Stat pack

Backstrom has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games … The Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen line has combined for 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists) in 18 games.