Pluses, minuses for Capitals, Rangers

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the "Wednesday Night Hockey" games on NBCSN in his Weekes on the Web blog.

The Washington Capitals hope to regain a share of the MassMutual East Division lead when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN).
The Capitals (33-14-5) are second in the eight-team East, two points behind the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins. Washington defeated the Rangers (26-21-6) 6-3 on Monday to eliminate New York from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
The Penguins, Capitals, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders have clinched playoff berths as the top four teams in the division.
Here's my breakdown of the game.

Capitals

Pluses: After Washington decided to part ways with goalie Braden Holtby and hand the keys to Ilya Samsonov, there was a question of how he would fare. With
Henrik Lundqvist
unable to play this season after he had open-heart surgery in January, Vitek Vanecek was thrust into the backup role. Well, the two young goalies have been money. Samsonov, 24, is 13-4-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and two shutouts in 19 games (18 starts); he and center Evgeny Kuznetsov were scratched Monday and will not be available Wednesday for team disciplinary reasons. Vanecek will start Wednesday; the 25-year-old rookie is 19-9-4 with a 2.76 GAA, .907 save percentage and two shutouts in 34 games (33 starts).
We know about forward Alex Ovechkin, center Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman John Carlson, but the Capitals have eight players on their roster who have scored at least 10 goals this season (not including forward Jakub Vrana, who scored 11 with them before he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings on April 12). Some of them are depth players like forward Conor Sheary (13 goals), forward Daniel Sprong (12) and center Nic Dowd (10). With that many players who can score, that can lead to a lengthy playoff run.
Minuses: Ovechkin will be out Wednesday after leaving following one shift Monday. Previously, he had missed four games with a lower-body injury. You don't need me to tell you how one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time influences the way his opponent plays on the ice. Hopefully for the Capitals, he will be healthy and ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Rangers

Pluses: First, Adam Fox should win the Norris Trophy. He had a very good rookie season in 2019-20 and leads NHL defensemen in scoring this season (47 points; five goals, 42 assists in 52 games) with a plus-21 rating. He excels in each end of the ice and plays in all situations. Fox has scored 23 power-play points (two goals, 21 assists), leads New York in average time on ice per game (24:41) and leads their defenseman in power play time on ice per game (3:52) and shorthanded time on ice per game (2:30). He is going to be a very good player in the NHL for a long time.
Second, Mika Zibanejad has bounced back after a slow start to the season. The center had NHL career highs last season with 41 goals and 75 points in 57 games but began this season with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 27 games; that could be due to his battle with COVID-19 prior to the season. In his past 26 games, Zibanejad has scored 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists), including three hat tricks and two six-point games. Zibanejad scored two goals Monday and has four in seven games against Washington this season.
Minuses:Artemi Panarin won't be in the lineup for the Rangers on Wednesday or in their other two remaining games. The forward, who sustained a lower-body injury Monday, had two assists and leads New York with 58 points (17 goals, 41 assists) in 42 games. He was a Hart Trophy finalist last season so it not having him in the lineup will leave a big void.
After making the playoffs last season and being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, I expected the Rangers to be in the mix for the playoffs again this season. But a 1-4-1 start and four wins in their first 14 games was too much to overcome, especially in a shortened 56-game season. New York has lost three straight but prior to that was 8-2-1 in its previous 11 games to make a push before falling short.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. What line do the Rangers match with the Capitals top line?
2. Who steps up for the Capitals without Ovechkin?
3. Can Zibanejad continue his hot streak?