Capitals at Rangers preview

CAPITALS (40-20-6) at RANGERS (35-27-4)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The Capitals are one point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, who defeated them 5-2 at Capital One Arena on Wednesday. Washington, which led Philadelphia by 15 points Jan. 7, is 4-7-1 in its past 12 games and 14-14-1 in 29 games after a 26-6-5 start to the season. The Flyers host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
The Rangers have lost three consecutive games in regulation, one short of their season high from Oct. 12-20, following a five-game winning streak. They're four points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Ilya Kovalchuk is without a goal in four games since he was traded to Washington by the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 23.
Rangers center Ryan Strome has at least one point in 10 of his past 13 games (15 points; six goals, nine assists).

They said it

"We've just got to want it more. It's a matter of effort and mentality. Go out there and do it right now because we're a lot better team than we've showed lately." -- Capitals center Lars Eller
"We can't really consume ourselves with our opponent this time of year. Where we're at, we have to win hockey games. The schedule is what it is. Whether you're home or away … or whether you go back to back, nobody cares. You have to show up and you have to win a hockey game. That's what we have to do tonight." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Ilya Kovalchuk
Richard Panik -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Brenden Dillon -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Michal Kempny
Ilya Samsonov
Braden Holtby
Scratched: Travis Boyd, Brendan Leipsic, Radko Gudas
Injured: None

Rangers projected lineup

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Jesper Fast
Brett Howden -- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux -- Greg McKegg -- Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
Brendan Smith -- Jacob Trouba
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched: None
Injured:Chris Kreider (fractured foot), Micheal Haley (core muscle), Igor Shesterkin (rib fracture)

Status report

The Capitals did not hold a morning skate. ... Shesterkin practiced without restrictions for the first time since he was injured in a car accident Feb. 23. Quinn said it was a step in the right direction and the goalie is day to day. … Kreider, a forward, is expected to be out 4-6 weeks, Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton told NHL Network on Wednesday.

Stat pack

The Capitals have allowed at least three goals in nine consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 25-March 15, 2007. ... The Rangers haven't scored at even strength in two straight games. ... Smith is one point from 100 in the NHL. … The Capitals are 10-1-1 in their past 12 games against the Rangers.