Capitals at Sharks preview

CAPITALS (19-4-5) at SHARKS (15-12-1)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Braden Holtby will start in goal for the Capitals, who have points in four straight games (3-0-1) and are 12-2-2 since Oct. 25. Washington opened a four-game road trip with a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Martin Jones is expected to start for the Sharks, who have won consecutive games, five of six and are 11-2-0 since Nov. 5.
Brent Burns of the Sharks will become the fourth defenseman in NHL history to play at least 500 consecutive regular-season games joining Keith Yandle (823), Jay Bouwmeester (737) and Karl Alzner (624).

Players to watch

Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin has five goals in a three-game goal streak.
Sharks center Logan Couture has three goals in his past two games, and 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"They're really rolling right now. We talked about it as a group. They have a heavy shot volume, especially from their blue line. … It's a tough challenge. In this building once they get the crowd going it's emotional and not an easy place to play. … it's a key match-up between two good teams and always is." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden
"We've scratched and clawed ourselves back into this and now we're starting to understand how we need to play to win consistently. Now it's going to get tested these next two weeks." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Capitals projected lineup

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

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Barclay Goodrow
Timo Meier -- Tomas Hertl -- Patrick Marleau
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Noah Gregor -- Dylan Gambrell -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Mario Ferraro
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Tim Heed, Lukas Radil
Injured: Dalton Prout (upper body), Antti Suomela (upper body)

Status report

Hagelin returns after missing 11 games. … Backstrom will not play but is a possibility to return against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. … The Capitals traded forward Chandler Stephenson for a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft on Monday. … Suomela and Prout are skating on their own and DeBoer said Suomela is closer to returning.

Stat pack

Ovechkin needs one power-play goal to move past Teemu Selanne (255) for sole possession of third place on the NHL all-time list. … Vrana has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Kuznetsov has six points (one goal, five assists) during a three-game point streak. ... Erik Karlsson has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past four games.