Photo: AP/ Frank Gunn

The Washington Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 in a shootout last Friday at Rogers Arena. The team will wrap up a season-long, five-game road trip and their last game of the month in a Tuesday night matchup against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Action from Scotiabank Arena begins at 7:00 P.M. ET on NBC Sports Washington.

Capitals

Washington leads the Metropolitan Division with a record of 8-2-3 and 19 points, which ties them for second in the league behind the Buffalo Sabres. The Caps have gone 6-1-1 on the road this season, which is a new franchise record. On October 16, the Capitals defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 at Capital One Arena and hold 75-57-6 record against Toronto.

Defenseman John Carlson continues to lead the team in points (21) and assists (16), captain Alex Ovechkin leads the team with nine (9) goals, and has scored four times in his last five games.

The Capitals lines at Monday afternoon’s practice indicate that Travis Boyd will likely get the start in place of Chandler Stephenson Tuesday night:

Caps lines during practice drills:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Hagelin-Eller-Hathaway
Leipsic-Dowd-Boyd

Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Gudas
Siegenthaler-Jensen

*they didn’t run traditional lines today but in drills this was it

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 28, 2019

Last time out, goaltender Braden Holtby and company fell 4-3 in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers, in a game in which Holtby made 36 saves and recorded a .900 Save Percentage in the loss. The Capitals’ goaltender has gone 4-1-3 and holds a Save Percentage of .883 with a Goals-Against Average of 3.64 on the season; Holtby is 9-5-1 versus the Leafs.

Backup netminder Ilya Samsonov experienced his first NHL shootout on Friday against the Canucks, a game in which he recorded an .853 Save Percentage, allowed five goals, and made 29 saves in the victory. Samsonov posts a record of 4-1-0, a Goals-Against Average of 2.46, and a .913 Save Percentage.

The Capitals are 25% efficient on the power play, which ranks them ninth in the league. On the penalty kill, they are eighth overall with an 84.8% efficiency. Forward T.J. Oshie remains the team leader with four power play goals.

Maple Leafs

After a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now 6-5-2. Their 14 points place them fourth in the Atlantic Division and 14th overall. The Leafs have gone 4-2-2 at home so far this season. In addition, they are 63-71-4 against Washington.

Center Mitch Marner has recorded 15 points and also leads the team with 12 assists. Center Auston Matthews has scored nine goals, which include two in his last five games.

Leafs captain John Tavares has posted seven points (three goals). During the last meeting with Washington, Tavares suffered a broken finger and is expected to be out for two weeks, having been out of game action since October 16. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, Tavares is “coming along” and progressing since the injury.

John Tavares says he’s coming along. Shot pucks for the first time since the injury today. Still no firm timeline, he says, but it’s coming along. No setbacks so far.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 28, 2019

After undergoing shoulder surgery in May, defenseman Travis Dermott will draw back into the lineup for the first time in Tuesday’s clash with the Capitals. The 22-year-old picked up 17 points (four goals) last season with the Leafs.

#LeafsForever lines @ practice:

Johnsson – Matthews – Nylander
Mikheyev – Kerfoot – Marner
Moore – Spezza – Kapanen
Timashov – Shore – Gauthier
Hyman, Petan

Gravel – Ceci
Muzzin – Barrie
Dermott – Holl

Andersen
Hutchinson

— Maple Leafs News (@budsallday34) October 28, 2019

Frederik Andersen has gone 6-2-1 so far this season. In his last game, the goaltender made 16 saves, allowed one goal, and had a .941 Save Percentage in the 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on October 26. Andersen currently holds a .904 Save Percentage and 2.94 Goals-Against Average. He has a 5-2-1 record versus the Capitals.

Goaltender Michael Hutchinson made 33 saves and allowed five goals in Saturday’s loss. His record now stands at 0-3-1, and he holds a Save Percentage of .885, and 4.25 Goals-Against Average in five games played.

The Maple Leafs rank 16th in the league with a 21.1% efficient power play. However, the team has a 78% efficiency when a man down, ranking them at 22nd in the league. Marner, Matthews, and forward Andreas Johnsson have each picked up two power play goals. Johnsson and center Alexander Kerfoot both have 12 penalty minutes.

By Della Young

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Captains. 😍 (📸 @capspup)

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