Preview: Capitals at Panthers

CAPITALS (2-0-1) at PANTHERS (2-0-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, CSN-DC, NHL.TV

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Capitals team scope

Goaltender Braden Holtby will start in his first appearance for the Washington Capitals since stopping 21 of 22 shots in a 2-1 victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Holtby, who has played 246 NHL games, is the third-fastest goaltender in League history to reach 150 wins, behind Ken Dryden (241 games) and Andy Moog (245). Backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves for his first career shutout in a 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Captain Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist Tuesday for his 280th career multi-point game. Ovechkin ranks fifth among active NHL players in multi-point games, behind Jaromir Jagr (533), Joe Thornton (363), Jarome Iginla (321) and Marian Hossa (289). The Capitals have earned a point in 14 of their past 16 games against the Panthers, and are 22-6-3 against Florida since the start of the 2009-10 season.

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Panthers team scope

Florida Panthers right wing Jaromir Jagr needs one goal to become the third player in NHL history to score 750 goals, behind Wayne Gretzky (894 goals) and Gordie Howe (801). Goaltender Roberto Luongo will start. On Saturday, he won the 438th game of his career and moved past Jacques Plante into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL's all-time list. Luongo needs 10 more wins to pass Terry Sawchuk (447 wins) and take over fifth place all-time. Luongo is 20-10-3 with a 2.29 goals-against average in 36 career games against the Capitals.

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Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- Justin Williams
Daniel Winnik -- Jay Beagle -- Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner -- Matt Niskanen
Dmitry Orlov -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Nate Schmidt
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Zach Sanford, Taylor Chorney
Injured: None

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Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen - Vincent Trocheck - Reilly Smith
Jared McCann - Denis Malgin - Colton Sceviour
Greg McKegg - Derek MacKenzie - Shane Harper Keith Yandle - Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson - Jason Demers
Mark Pysyk - Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Shawn Thornton, Steven Kampfer
Injured:Jonathan Huberdeau (lower leg), Nick Bjugstad (broken hand)

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Status report

Panthers coach Gerard Gallant is impressed with the Jokinen-Trocheck-Smith line. Trocheck has scored in back-to-back games, and Jokinen has an assist in two straight. "They're playing well, working hard," Gallant said Thursday. "You can put them out there in any situation, so that's what I like about that line. They compete hard, they play a 200-foot game for us. So, really like them so far."

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Who's hot

Oshie scored two goals on Tuesday against the Avalanche, marking the third straight time a Capitals player scored two goals in a game. Burakovsky did it on Oct. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Daniel Winnik did it Saturday against the Islanders. … The Capitals have earned a point in 36 of their past 41 games against Atlantic Division opponents (33-5-3) dating back to last season. Marchessault has two goals and two assists in his first three games with the Panthers.