Jets at Capitals preview

JETS (41-18-9) at CAPITALS (38-23-7)
7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN3, NBCSW, NHL.TV

Ovechkin and Winnipeg forward Patrik Laine each have 40 goals. Ovechkin has not scored in three games and is two away from becoming the 20th player in NHL history to score 600 goals.
Laine has an 11-game point streak (15 goals, six assists) and has scored nine of the past 14 goals for the Jets.
The Capitals are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, but would pass the Pittsburgh Penguins and move into first with a win.
Winnipeg has won nine of 12 games and is in second place in the Central Division, seven behind the first-place Nashville Predators.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in his past 14 games.
Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer is 5-1-0 with a .954 save percentage (206 saves on 216 shots) in his past nine appearances.

They said it

"There's just kind of that natural goal-scorer in both of them. They find that soft area where they can get open and everyone seems to know they're always on the ice, but at the same time they get wide open and in the slot and you just don't know how it happens." -- Jets forward Matt Hendricks on teammate Patrik Laine and former teammate Alex Ovechkin
"It's one of those fortunate things in an unfortunate situation. He's been able to play extremely well. And I can take a little time to clean up a couple of things, and can clear my head, clear the team's head with that kind of stigma that's kind of going on with me in net." -- Capitals goalie Braden Holtby on backup Philipp Grubauer starting his third straight game.

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Paul Stastny -- Patrik Laine
Kyle Connor -- Bryan Little -- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault -- Andrew Copp -- Jack Roslovic
Brandon Tanev -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Josh Morrissey -- Tyler Myers
Joe Morrow -- Tucker Poolman
Connor Hellebuyck
Michael Hutchinson
Scratched:Marko Dano, Toby Enstrom
Injured:Shawn Matthias (upper body), Jacob Trouba (lower body), Adam Lowry (upper body), Steve Mason (lower body), Mark Scheifele (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (lower body)

Capitals projected lineup

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

Status report

Mason had arthroscopic knee surgery and will miss 2-3 weeks. … Kulikov returned to Winnipeg to be re-evaluated. … Scheifele skated in a non-contact jersey, but has already been ruled out against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. … Jerabek is in the lineup for a third straight game.

Stat pack

The Capitals have the League's best power play since Jan. 25 at 29.2 percent (14-for-48). … The Jets have killed 22 straight shorthanded opportunities on the road.