Capitals at Oilers preview

CAPITALS (4-5-1) at OILERS (3-5-1)
10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Backstrom has one assist in his past three games after having 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his previous five games for the Capitals, who have lost two straight and are 1-4-0 in their past five games after a 3-1-1 start.
The Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-4 on Thursday, scoring more than three goals in a game for the first time this season. The victory ended a two-game losing streak for Edmonton, which is 2-1-1 in its past four games after opening the season 1-4-0.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has two points (one goal, one assist) in his past five games after having 10 points (nine goals, one assist) in his first five games.
Oilers center Connor McDavid has scored in each of his past two games. He has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games, and leads Edmonton in scoring with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in nine games.

They said it

"We have lots of new guys coming in, lots of rookies and lots of young guys, and they have to step it up. But the most inportant thing is the experienced guys and leaders have to step up in this moment and show their character and show how we can play and how we have to play." -- Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin
"Every night there is going to be a new guy coming in and you're going to go head-to-head against a star in the League, so that's exciting." -- Oilers center Connor McDavid on playing against Ovechkin

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Tom Wilson
Anthony Peluso -- Jay Beagle -- Alex Chiasson
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Madison Bowey
Dmitry Orlov -- Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Nathan Walker, Aaron Ness
Injured: Matt Niskanen (upper body), Tyler Graovac (upper body), Andre Burakovsky (upper body), Brett Connolly (concussion)

Oilers projected lineup

Patrick Maroon -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl
Milan Lucic -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Ryan Strome
Drake Caggiula -- Mark Letestu -- Zack Kassian
Jussi Jokinen -- Jujhar Khaira -- Anton Slepyshev
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Eric Gryba
Kris Russell -- Matt Benning
Cam Talbot
Laurent Brossoit
Scratched: Iiro Pakarinen, Kailer Yamamoto, Yohann Auvitu
Injured: Andrej Sekera (knee)

Status report

Peluso will play his first game of the season. He was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Friday. ... Yamamoto will be a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.

Stat pack

Kuznetsov has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past five games after having 10 assists in his first five games. … Jokinen will play in his 900th NHL game.