Capitals at Kings preview

CAPITALS (20-4-5) at KINGS (11-15-2)
10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN, FS-W, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The forward has scored 255 goals on the man-advantage in his NHL career. He has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past four games and scored three power-play goals in two games against the Kings last season.
The Capitals defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Tuesday for their fourth straight win. It is the third winning streak of at least four games for Washington this season.
The Kings are 7-1-1 in their past nine home games.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Jakub Vrana has seven points (four goals, three assists) during a five-game streak.
Kings center Nikolai Prokhorkin has scored in consecutive games. He has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past five games.

They said it

"Our team is playing well, so that's what I care about. It's nice to see the puck go in, always, there's no doubt about that. But whoever is scoring 'em, it's good for me." -- Capitals defenseman John Carlson
"We have a lot of confidence at home, you know. We've been playing good hockey at home, so we know what we're going to get every time." -- Kings forward Adrian Kempe

Capitals projected lineup

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

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Jeff Carter -- Michael Amadio -- Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Kyle Clifford -- Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Trevor Lewis
Joakim Ryan -- Drew Doughty
Kurtis MacDermid -- Sean Walker
Ben Hutton -- Matt Roy
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Ilya Kovalchuk, Matt Luff
Injured:Alec Martinez (wrist), Derek Forbort (back)

Status report

Backstrom will missing his seventh game. He has practiced this week, including a conditioning workout Tuesday, but coach Todd Reirden said he will not play until he is 100 percent ready. … Gudas' status is unknown after he was elbowed in the head by Sharks forward Evander Kane in the third period Tuesday. … The Capitals did not skate Wednesday.

Stat pack

The Capitals are 6-0-3 against the Pacific Division. … Ovechkin has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 19 games against the Kings. … Quick is 9-3-0 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in 12 games against the Capitals.