Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals take on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night for the first time since Florida took the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the two teams in six games last May. They also took two of three regular-season meetings, including both games in Sunrise, against Washington although all of them were played throughout November 2021. Puck drop from FLA Live Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington  in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market starting at 7 PM ET.

SCHEDULE

Washington will play the middle match of a three-game road trip after a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night.

Florida will continue a five-game homestand, which is tied for their longest of the season, after splitting the first two games: a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday before losing 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

RECORDS

Washington: 7-8-2/.471 points percentage (2-5-1 on road) – sixth in Metropolitan Division, 12th in Eastern Conference

Florida: 8-6-1/.567 points percentage (4-1-1 at home) – tied for third in Atlantic Division and seventh in Eastern Conference

HOW EACH TEAM IS GOING

Washington: 3-5-2 since winning back-to-back games for the second time this season on October 22 and 24

Florida: 6-6-1 since opening season with back-to-back wins

TEAM LEADERS

Washington

• LW Alex Ovechkin (eight goals, 14 points)
• C Evgeny Kuznetsov (11 assists)
• D John Carlson (22:25 average TOI/game)

Notes: Kuznetsov, 30, has two goals and six points over his last four games and eight points in his last eight; C Dylan Strome has been held without a point in five of his last six, earning two goals and three points over that stretch; LW Conor Sheary has goals in consecutive games; LW Anthony Mantha has two goals and five points over his last five; LW Sonny Milano has two goals and four points in his last three

Florida

• LW Carter Verhaeghe (eight goals)
• LW Matthew Tkachuk (12 assists, 17 points)
• D Brandon Montour (26:12 average TOI/game)

Notes: Verhaeghe, 27, has six goals and 12 points in his last nine and saw a four-game point-streak (four goals, seven points) end vs. Edmonton; Tkachuk, 24, was held off of the scoresheet for just the third time this season on Saturday; Montour, 28, has six assists and seven points over his last three and has 11 and 15, respectively, through 13 games this season; C Sam Bennett has four goals and five points over a three-game point-streak; C Anton Lundell has five helpers in his last five

KEY TEAM STATS

Goals-per-game:                 WSH – 2.88 (22nd)       FLA – 3.13 (15th)

Goals-against per game:    WSH – 3.06 (15th)        FLA – 3.07 (16th)

Power Play:                          WSH – 20.3% (16th)     FLA – 14.8% (29th)

Penalty Kill:                         WSH – 80.8% (12th)     FLA – 75.4% (24th)

Shots-per-game:                 WSH – 27.8 (30th)        FLA – 40.3 (1st)

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

Faceoff-winning %:            WSH – 46.4% (26th)    FLA – 49.9% (18th)

5v5 Corsi-for Percentage:  WSH – 49.74% (17th)  FLA – 58.49% (3rd)

5v5 x Goals-For %:              WSH – 46.18% (25th)  FLA – 56.86% (3rd)

5v5 SCF Percentage:           WSH – 48.98% (20th) FLA – 61.1% (3rd)

5v5 Shooting Percentage:  WSH – 9.39% (T-4th)  FLA – 7.69% (23rd)

5v5 Save Percentage:          WSH – .9231 (10th)     FLA – .9161 (16th)

5v5 PDO:                               WSH – 1.017 (T-5th)   FLA – .993 (22nd)

EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS

Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 5-7-1, .911 save percentage, 2.63 goals-against average, one shutout in 13 games; 3-3-0, .921 save percentage, 2.40 goals-against average, one shutout in seven career regular-season games vs. Florida

Florida: TBD

* Spencer Knight, 21 — 5-2-0, .922 save percentage, 2.31 goals-against average, one shutout in seven games; 0-1-0, .861 save percentage, 5.59 goals-against average in two regular-season games vs. Washington last season

* Sergei Bobrovsky, 34 — 3-4-1, .897 save percentage, 3.29 goals-against average in eight games; 10-13-5, .898 save percentage, 3.05 goals-against average, shutout in 30 career regular-season games and .903 save percentage and a 3.04 goals-against average in 12 postseason outings vs. Washington

INJURIES/ILLNESSES

Washington

* RW Connor Brown (lower-body, will miss 14th straight game, out indefinitely)

* D Dmitry Orlov (lower-body, fifth, day-to-day)

* LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 18th, indefinite)

* RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 18th, indefinite)

* C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 18th, indefinite)

* RW T.J. Oshie (lower-body, ninth, indefinite)

* LW Beck Malenstyn (finger, seventh, week-to-week)

Florida

* RW Anthony Duclair (Achilles, 16th, indefinite)

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Washington

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

Erik Gustafsson — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: LW Joe Snively, D Alexander Alexeyev

Suspended: RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel (second of three)

Florida

Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg — Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarninen — Bennett — Colin White
Nick Cousins — Eric Staal — Patric Hornqvist

Gustav Forsling — Montour
Marc Staal — Aaron Ekblad
Josh Mahura — Radko Gudas

Knight
Bobrovsky

Scratched: N/A

Game Notes

By Harrison Brown