Capitals at Penguins preview

CAPITALS (46-25-7) at PENGUINS (45-28-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

Washington, which is 5-1-0 in its past six games and 9-2-0 in its past 11, is three points ahead of Pittsburgh in the division. The Capitals have four games remaining; the Penguins have three.
Pittsburgh clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a 12th straight season, the longest active streak in the NHL, with a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. It is two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Philadelphia Flyers in the division.
The Penguins have won two of three games against the Capitals this season. They won 3-2 at Capital One Arena on Oct. 11 before losing 4-1 in Washington on Nov. 10 and winning 7-4 at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 2.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will play his 1,000th NHL game. He has 1,118 points (603 goals, 515 assists) in 999 games.
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby has nine points (five goals, four assists) on a six-game point streak and 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"One thousand games is a lot. I'm very happy I'm the guy that played for one organization."-- Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin
"I think it's just important for us to keep our foot on the gas. We have a few games left here against some good opponents." -- Penguins forward Riley Sheahan

Capitals projected lineup

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

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Conor Sheary -- Riley Sheahan -- Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese -- Josh Jooris -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Olli Maatta -- Justin Schultz
Matt Hunwick -- Jamie Oleksiak
Matt Murray
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:Chad Ruhwedel, Dominik Simon
Injured: Derick Brassard (lower body), Carter Rowney (upper body)

Status report

Oshie will play after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. … Kessel, who has played 689 straight games since missing the first 12 of the 2009-10 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, sustained an undisclosed injury midway through the third period Saturday. His status is unknown.

Stat pack

Ovechkin is one game-winning goal from passing Jarome Iginla (101) for eighth all-time. His 603 goals have him six away from passing Dino Ciccarelli (608) for 18th on the NHL's all-time goals list. … Hornqvist scored his 200th NHL goal Saturday. … Maatta will play his 300th NHL game.