Capitals at Senators preview

CAPITALS (23-10-3) at SENATORS (15-19-4)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV

Chabot took a hit from New York Islanders forward Matt Martin during the second period of a 6-3 loss on Friday and did not return. The 21-year-old has an upper-body injury and will be out at least three weeks. Chabot is second in scoring among NHL defensemen with 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists), six points behind Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Goalie Marcus Hogberg will make his NHL debut for the Senators, who have lost three straight. Hogberg was selected by the Senators in the third round (No. 78) of the 2013 NHL Draft.
Washington forward Alex Ovechkin needs one goal to join Mike Gartner (15) as the only players in NHL history to begin their careers with 14 consecutive 30-goal seasons. Ovechkin leads the NHL with 29 goals but has not scored in his past four games.
The Capitals have won three straight and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games.

Players to watch

Capitals goalie Pheonix Copley had his first NHL shutout against Ottawa on Dec. 22.
Hogberg has a 2.32 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in eight games with Belleville of the American Hockey League this season.

They said it

"We know [the Senators] played last night and they came home late. So, our game plan is to get on them early and see what happens." -- Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom
"Our third periods [need to improve.] Lately, our first two periods have been great, and in the third period I think we've given up four or five four-goal periods in the last couple weeks. That can't happen." -- Senators forward Colin White

Capitals projected lineup

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

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Mark Stone
Zack Smith -- Matt Duchene -- Ryan Dzingel
Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Bobby Ryan
Nicholas Paul -- Tom Pyatt --
Jack Rodewald
Ben Harpur -- Dylan DeMelo
Max Lajoie -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki --
Christian Wolanin
Marcus Hogberg
Mike McKenna
Scratched:Stefan Elliott
Injured: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Achilles), Craig Anderson (concussion), Justin Falk (upper body), Thomas Chabot (upper body), Christian Jaros (broken finger), Magnus Paajarvi (upper body)

Status report

Orpik took part in the morning skate but will not play. … Niskanen is day to day. … Jaros was injured in the third period of the loss to the Islanders and will be out four weeks. … Paajarvi is day to day. … The Senators recalled Rodewald from Belleville on Saturday.

Stat pack

Ovechkin needs four goals to tie Dave Andreychuk (640) for 14th on the NHL's all-time goals list.