Capitals at Rangers preview

CAPITALS (44-24-7) at RANGERS (33-34-8)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

Washington is first in the division with 95 points, three more than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Goalie Philipp Grubauer will make his third consecutive start for the Capitals. Braden Holtby, who sat out the past two games with a lower-body injury, will be the backup.
The Rangers, 12 points behind the Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, will have rookie centers Lias Andersson, 19, and Filip Chytil, 18, in the lineup. They were recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
Andersson, the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, will be making his NHL debut.

Players to watch

Capitals forward T.J. Oshie has six points (five goals, assist) in his past six games.
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad has seven goals during a five-game goal scoring streak.

They said it

"More important than getting first is getting our game to where we need it to be going into the playoffs. No matter what the standings are, we're going to play a good team in the first round, a good team in the second round and a great team in the third [round]. We really have to get our level going here … I feel like we're on the right path." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie
"I'm just 19 years old, so still at my junior age. Obviously, I wanted to get [to the NHL] as fast as I can, but no stress. Just happy I'm here now." -- Rangers center Lias Andersson

Capitals projected lineup

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

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Kevin Hayes -- Filip Chytil -- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey -- Lias Andersson -- Ryan Spooner
Cody McLeod -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Pavel Buchnevich
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Ryan Sproul
John Gilmour -- Rob O'Gara
Alexandar Georgiev
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched:David Desharnais, Paul Carey, Peter Holland
Injured:Henrik Lundqvist (back/neck), Tony DeAngelo (ankle), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee surgery), Steven Kampfer (fractured hand)

Status report

Lundqvist will miss his third consecutive game, but Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said he'll practice Tuesday and is likely to play at Washington on Wednesday.

Stat pack

Backstrom needs one point to move into sole possession of third place on the Capitals' all-time scoring list. He is tied with Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Gartner with 789 points. … Fast's eight-game point streak (three goals, seven assists) is the longest of the season by a Rangers player and the longest of his NHL career.