Capitals at Oilers preview

CAPITALS (7-2-2) at OILERS (7-2-1)
9 p.m. ET; SN1, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Goalie Braden Holtby will make his fourth consecutive start for Washington, which has outscored opponents 19-11 during its winning streak.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen, who is 4-0-0 this season, will start for Edmonton, which has been shut out in each of its past two games after starting the season 7-1-0. The Oilers have never been shut out in three straight games.

Players to watch

Capitals defenseman John Carlson leads the NHL in scoring with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 11 games. Carlson is on an eight-game point streak (five goals, 12 assists). A nine-games streak would be the longest by a defenseman in team history.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 10 games but does not have a point in his past two games. Draisaitl scored 50 goals last season and finished second to Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (51) for the most in the League.

They said it

"Everybody knew he was a skilled guy, he's our top 'D'. He's playing big minutes like always and he's just feeling it. It seems like everything he's tried to do is working and it's good for us."-- Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin on defenseman John Carlson
"We need to get more pucks to the net, sustain some more O-zone time. I think we're a lot of one-and-done right now. That comes from the forecheck, it comes from shooting the puck and getting it back, all those things." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on Edmonton being shut out in its past two games

Capitals projected lineup

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

Oilers projected lineup

Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Alex Chiasson -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- James Neal
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Josh Archibald
Patrick Russell -- Markus Granlund -- Sam Gagner
Oscar Klefbom -- Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Brandon Manning -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched:William Lagesson, Tomas Jurco
Injured:Adam Larsson (leg), Joakim Nygard (rib), Joel Persson (concussion)

Status report

Wilson did not take part in the morning skate, but Capitals coach Todd Reirden said he would be in the lineup. ... Gagner will play his first game for Edmonton since being recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … Jurco will be a healthy scratch after playing the past nine games.

Stat pack

Ovechkin is on an eight-game point streak (six goals, five assists) and needs three goals to tie Luc Robitaille (668) for 12th place on the NHL all-time list. … McDavid has no points in his past three games after having 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in his first seven games. ... Eller has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past two games.