Capitals at Canadiens preview

CAPITALS (5-3-2) at CANADIENS (6-3-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

Goalie Carey Price will make his third straight start for Montreal, which is 5-2-1 in its past eight games.
Price is 3-1-1 with a 2.19 goals-against-average and one shutout in his past five starts, including a 4-1 loss against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Goalie Braden Holtby will start for Washington, which will look for its fourth win in six games. The Capitals are 3-1-1 in their past five following a 4-3 shootout win at the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past six games.
Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past eight games.

They said it

"I remember when we were in that position, we always wanted to prove to ourselves when we played the Stanley Cup champions that we could be in their spot." -- Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin on opponents competing harder against them this season
"It should be a competitive game. Hopefully we can use our speed to try to dictate the pace of the play and then make it as tough as we can on them. But it's going to be a tough night." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Jakub Vrana
Andre Burakovsky -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Chandler Stephenson -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Dmitrij Jaskin -- Nic Dowd -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Christian Djoos -- Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Nathan Walker, Aaron Ness
Injured: Brooks Orpik (lower body), Travis Boyd (leg)
Suspended: Tom Wilson

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Charles Hudon
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Matthew Peca -- Andrew Shaw
Jordie Benn -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Noah Juulsen
Xavier Ouellet -- Victor Mete
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Karl Alzner
Injured: Paul Byron (lower body), Shea Weber (knee), David Schlemko (knee), Tomas Plekanec (back)

Status report

Orpik did not take part in the morning skate. "We'll see how he does with treatment and stuff the rest of today and whether he's able to join us for practice or not tomorrow," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. … Byron took part in the morning skate but Canadiens coach Claude Julien said his lineup will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Kuznetsov has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the past six games. Carlson has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past five games. … Domi has eight points (five goals, three assists) in the past seven games.