Capitals at Panthers preview

CAPITALS (34-19-7) at PANTHERS (26-25-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, FS-F, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Kempny was traded by the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday for a third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Kempny, who did not play in a 4-2 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, was paired with Brooks Orpik during the morning skate.
The Capitals, who have lost two of three, lead the Pittsburgh Penguins by one point for first place in the Metropolitan Division with one game in hand.
Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo will make his second start in three games since returning from a groin injury that sidelined him for more than two months. Florida trails the Columbus Blue Jackets by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with three games in hand.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games and is six goals from 600 in his NHL career.
Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"We play a little different than Chicago and Montreal, so we're going to try to ease these guys in and give them as much information as we can on how we play and then just sort of let them play and show us what their skill set is." -- Washington coach Barry Trotz on defensemen Michal Kempny and Jakub Jerabek, acquired in trades with the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, respectively.
"This is it. We can make our own destiny here. If we can get two points tonight, you're five out with two in hand, you've got a bunch of home games coming up. We've got to find a way to get some points in these games." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner on playing 11 of 12 games at BB&T Center.

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- Andre Burakovsky
Chandler Stephenson -- Jay Beagle -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Michal Kempny
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Alex Chiasson, Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek
Injured: None

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Maxim Mamin - Jared McCann -- Colton Sceviour
Connor Brickley -- Derek MacKenzie --
Micheal Haley 
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- Alex Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Radim Vrbata, Jamie McGinn, MacKenzie Weegar
Injured: None

Status report

Jerabek, acquired from the Canadiens for a fifth-round pick Wednesday, will join the Capitals in Washington prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. … Vrbata will be a healthy scratch for the eighth time in 11 games. … McGinn will be a healthy scratch for the first time since Jan. 7.

Stat pack

Washington is 15-4-2 in its past 21 games against Florida. … Ovechkin has 75 points (36 goals, 39 assists) in 59 career games against the Panthers. … Florida was 10-for-22 on the power play in its previous six games before going 0-for-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.