Photo: John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks for the first of two meetings this season between the two, both coming before December, on Monday night. The teams split two games in 2021-22, including a 4-2 Vancouver victory in Washington on January 16. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market beginning at 7 PM ET.

Schedule

The Canucks continue their season-opening five-game road trip after dropping the first two games of it, most recently a 3-2 loss in Philadelphia on Saturday. They also begin a set of back-to-backs with the Columbus Blue Jackets awaiting them for a Tuesday night tilt.

The Capitals close out a two-game homestand after getting their first win of the season on Saturday, when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 3-1.

Records

2021-22

Canucks: 20-16-5 on road (16th in NHL), 40-30-12 (.561 points percentage) — fifth in Pacific Division/10th in Western Conference

Capitals: 19-16-6 at home (21st), 44-26-12 (.610) – fourth in Metropolitan Division/eighth in Eastern Conference

2022-23

Canucks: 0-2-0

Capitals: 1-2-0 (including 1-1-0 at home)

Team Leaders

2021-22

Canucks:

• C J.T. Miller (32 goals, 67 points, 99 points)
• C Elias Pettersson (32 goals)
• D Quinn Hughes (25:15 average TOI/game)

Capitals:

• LW Alex Ovechkin (50 goals, 90 points)
• C Evgeny Kuznetsov (54 assists)
• D John Carlson (54 assists, 23:49 TOI/game)

2022-23

Canucks:

• Five players: Miller/LW Andrei Kuzmenko/C Elias Pettersson/RW Conor Garland/D Kyle Burroughs (one goal each)
• RW Brock Boeser (two assists)
• Miller/Boeser (two points each)
• D Quinn Hughes (26:33 average TOI/game)

Capitals:

• Two players: LW Conor Sheary/Anthony Mantha (two goals each)
• Four players: C Dylan Strome/RW T.J. Oshie/D Trevor Van Riemsdyk/D Erik Gustafsson (two assists each)
• Oshie (three points)
• Carlson (24:46 average TOI/game)

Key Team Stats

Goals-per-game:                   Canucks – 2.50 (T-23rd)    Capitals – 2.33 (T-25th)

Goals-against per game:     Canucks – 4.00 (26th)        Capitals – 3.00 (T-16th)

Power Play:                           Canucks – 7.7% (25th)        Capitals – 9.1% (24th)

Penalty Kill:                          Canucks – 55.6% (31st)      Capitals – 77.8% (19th)

Shots-per-game:                  Canucks – 33 (T-14th)        Capitals – 30 (T-20th)

Shots-against per game:    Canucks – 28 (T-Ninth)     Capitals – 30.3 (15th)

Faceoff-winning %:             Canucks – 52% (13th)        Capitals – 41.3% (29th)

5v5 Corsi-for Percentage:  Canucks – 52.53% (14th)   Capitals – 52.11% (16th)

5v5 x Goals-For %:              Canucks – 53.41% (12th)   Capitals – 46.25% (20th)

5v5 SCF Percentage:           Canucks – 48.53 (18th)      Capitals – 48.41% (19th)

5v5 Shooting Percentage:  Canucks – 8.33% (18th)    Capitals – 9.68% (11th)

5v5 Save Percentage:          Canucks – .950 (sixth)      Capitals – .9104 (24th)

5v5 PDO:                              Canucks – 1.033 (11th)        Capitals – 1.007 (18th)

Expected Starting Goaltenders

Canucks: Thatcher Demko, 26 — 0-2-0, .873 save percentage, 3.64 goals-against average this season after going 33-22-7, .915 save percentage, 2.72 goals-against average, two shutouts last; 1-0-1, .910 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average in two games vs. Washington last season, the only appearances he has made against them

Capitals: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 1-1-0, .902 save percentage, 2.55 goals-against average; 11-6-1, .924 save percentage, 2.23 goals-against average, one shutout in 19 career games vs. Vancouver

Injuries/Illnesses

Canucks

* D Travis Dermott (concussion, will miss third straight game, out indefinitely)

* D Tyler Myers (lower-body, third, week-to-week)

* RW Ilya Mikheyev (undisclosed, third, week-to-week)

* D Tucker Poolman (ill, first, day-to-day)

Capitals

* LW Carl Hagelin (hip, third, indefinite)

* RW Tom Wilson (ACL, third, indefinite)

* C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, third, indefinite)

* C Evgeny Kuznetsov (undisclosed, first, day-to-day)

Projected Lineups

Canucks

Tanner Pearson — Bo Horvat — Boeser
Kuzmenko — Pettersson — Curtis Lazar
Vasily Podkolzin — Miller — Garland
Dakota Joshua — Nils Aman — Nils Hoglander

Hughes — Luke Schenn
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Burroughs
Noah Juulsen — Riley Stillman

Demko
Spencer Martin

Scratched: D Jack Rathbone

Capitals

Ovechkin — Strome — Connor Brown
Mantha — Connor McMichael — Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Aliaksei Protas
Sheary — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Martin Fehervary — Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Gustafsson — Van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: LW Joe Snively, D Matt Irwin

Game Notes

By Harrison Brown