Preview: Capitals Have A Date With Detroit On Monday Night

Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images The Washington Capitals host the Detroit Red Wings for the second of three meetings between the two teams during the regular season. Detroit defeated Washington in the first one by a score of … Continue reading →

Preview: Capitals Have A Date With Detroit On Monday Night
Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals host the Detroit Red Wings for the second of three meetings between the two teams during the regular season. Detroit defeated Washington in the first one by a score of 3-1 at Little Caesers Arena on November 3 but Washington is 16-3-3 against them since the 2011-12 season.

Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market.

SCHEDULE

Detroit: alternating between home and road games in span of six (0-3-0 during stretch so far)

Washington: end three-game homestand (split first two games) and continue stretch where they play 10 of 16 in the nation’s capital

RECORDS

Detroit: 13-11-6/.533 points percentage – fifth in Atlantic Division, tied for 11th in Eastern Conference (10th in points percentage); 6-5-3 on road, 20th in NHL

Washington: 16-13-4/.545 points percentage – sixth in Metropolitan Division, ninth in Eastern Conference; 9-5-1 at home, 10th

HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING

Detroit: have lost five straight (0-4-1), are 2-6-2 in last 10

Washington: 6-1-0 in last seven, 9-3-1 in their last 13 since dropping nine of their previous 11 (2-6-3)

TEAM LEADERS

Detroit

  • C Dylan Larkin (10 goals, 27 points)
  • D Filip Hronek (18 assists)
  • D Moritz Seider (22:45 TOI/game)

Notes: Larkin, 26, has just one goal in his last six games; Hronek’s goal in Detroit’s 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators snapped a four-game scoring drought; Seider, 21, has one assist in his last nine, including none in his last three; LW Dominik Kubalik snapped a four-game scoring drought with an assist vs. Ottawa;

LW Lucas Raymond ended a three-game scoring drought with an assist vs. Ottawa; C Pius Suter ended an 11-game scoring drought with an assist on Saturday; C Andrew Copp has gone scoreless in four straight games; D Olli Maatta has three assists in his last three after going scoreless in his previous nine

Washington

Notes: Ovechkin, 37, has 18 goals and 30 points in his last 27, including seven goals, 10 points, and three multi-point efforts in his last six; Ovechkin also enters Monday two goals away from passing Gordie Howe (801) for second-most goals in NHL history; Kuznetsov, 30, has eight assists and nine points over his last eight; Carlson, 32, has six assists in as many games;

LW Anthony Mantha has two goals, seven points over his last six; C Lars Eller has three goals in his last six; D Erik Gustafsson has a +9 rating over his last five and scored his first career hat trick in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs; D Dmitry Orlov has two assists, three points, +3 rating in four games since returning from a 16-game injury absence; LW Sonny Milano has five assists in his last four; RW Garnet Hathaway has a goal and three points in his last three; D Trevor Van Riemsdyk has three goals in his last four

KEY TEAM STATS

Goals-per-game:                 DET – 2.9 (T-24th)        WSH – 3.03 (T-20th)

Goals-against per game:   DET – 3.17 (18th)           WSH – 2.85 (12th)

Power Play:                          DET – 19.8% (T-24th)   WSH – 21.8% (T-17th)

Penalty Kill:                         DET – 76.4% (22nd)      WSH – 80.7% (9th)

Shots-per-game:                 DET – 29.4 (26th)          WSH – 31.2 (T-18th)

Shots-against per game:   DET –31.3 (15th)             WSH – 30.7 (T-11th)

Faceoff-winning %:            DET – 47.4% (26th)       WSH – 47.4% (23rd)

5v5 Corsi-for %:                  DET – 46.15% (27th)     WSH – 50.56% (17th)

5v5 x Goals-For %:             DET – 45.55% (26th)     WSH – 50.37% (16th)

5v5 SCF %:                           DET – 43.47% (28th)     WSH – 50.93% (15th)

5v5 Shooting %:                  DET – 8.35% (17th)        WSH – 7.88% (23rd)

5v5 Save %:                          DET – .9212 (13th)         WSH – .9223 (10th)

5v5 PDO:                              DET – 1.005 (T-11th)      WSH – 1.001 (15th)

EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS

Detroit: Ville Husso, 25 — 11-6-4, .913 save percentage, 2.61 goals-against average (15th), three shutouts (tied for first) in 21 games this season; has lost back-to-back starts; 3-0-0, .951 save percentage, 1.34 goals-against average in three career games vs. Washington, including 33-save performance (.971 save percentage) last month

Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 8-9-2, .916 save percentage, 2.56 goals-against average, two shutouts in 20 games; could return after missing eight games with a lower-body injury; 3-3-1, .911 save percentage, 2.56 goals-against average in seven career games vs. Detroit, including 23-save outing (.923 save percentage) in November

INJURIES/ILLNESSES

Detroit

  • RW Robby Fabbri (ACL, will miss 31st straight game, out indefinitely)
  • LW Jakub Vrana (player assistance program, 29th, indefinite)
  • LW Filip Zadina (lower-body, 20th, indefinite)
  • C Matt Luff (wrist, 18th, indefinite)
  • RW Tyler Bertuzzi (hand, ninth, week-to-week)
  • D Mark Pysyk (torn Achilles, 31st, indefinite)

Washington

  • D Martin Fehervary (lower-body, eighth, day-to-day)
  • RW Connor Brown (ACL, 30th, indefinite)
  • LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 34th, indefinite)
  • RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 34th, indefinite)
  • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 34th, indefinite)
  • LW Beck Malenstyn (finger, 23rd, week-to-week)
  • D Alexander Alexeyev (upper-body, fifth, status unknown)
  • C Nic Dowd (lower-body, second, day-to-day)
  • RW T.J. Oshie (upper-body, first, day-to-day)

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Detroit

Copp — Larkin — Raymond
Jonatan Berggren — Michael Rasmussen — David Perron
Elmer Soderblom — Joe Veleno — Kubalik
Adam Erne — Suter — Oskar Sundqvist

Ben Chiarot — Seider
Jake Walman — Hronek
Maatta — Jordan Oesterle

Husso
Alex Nedeljkovic

Scratched: RW Austin Czarnik, D Gustav Lindstrom, G Magnus Hellberg

Washington

Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Aliaksei Protas — TBD (Connor McMichael?)
Milano — Kuznetsov — Mantha
Nicolas Aube-Kubel — Eller — Hathaway

Gustafsson — Carlson
Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: D Lucas Johansen

By Harrison Brown