Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals conclude their regular-season series with the Calgary Flames on Saturday night just eight days after they shut Calgary out by a score of 3-0 at Capital One Arena. Washington has points in seven straight games vs. Calgary (6-0-1) and is 13-3-3 against them since 2010-11. Action from Scotiabank Saddledome can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market starting at 10 PM ET.
SCHEDULE
Washington: begin back half of a season-long six-game road trip after going .500 (1-1-1) in the first, including a 3-2 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday
Calgary: reach middle of five-game homestand after splitting the first two games, including a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday
RECORDS
Washington: 10-11-4/.480 points percentage – sixth in Metropolitan Division, 12th in Eastern Conference in points; 3-7-3 on road, 26th in NHL
Calgary: 10-10-3/.500 points percentage – fifth in Pacific Division, 10th in Western Conference; 7-5-1 at home, 14th
HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING
Washington: 3-1-1 in their last five since dropping nine of their previous 11 (2-6-3)
Calgary: 5-9-3 since October 28, including 1-3-1 in their past five
TEAM LEADERS
Washington
- LW Alex Ovechkin (13 goals, 25 points)
- Cs Evgeny Kuznetsov/Dylan Strome (13 assists each)
- D John Carlson (23:20 TOI/game)
Notes: Ovechkin, 37, has five goals and five multi-point games in his last seven (nine points) after a two-assist outing in Seattle; Kuznetsov, 30, is on a three-game point drought; LW Anthony Mantha has gone scoreless in six of his last seven (goal, two points); LW Marcus Johansson has three assists over a three-game assist-streak and has points in four of his last five (four); LW Conor Sheary tallied one goal and two points in Seattle after earning just one helper in his previous five; RW T.J. Oshie has gone scoreless in three straight games; C Lars Eller has gone scoreless in seven of his last eight; LW Sonny Milano has gone scoreless in his last three; D Martin Fehervary has goals in back-to-back games
Calgary
- RW Tyler Toffoli/C Nazem Kadri (eight goals each)
- D Rasmus Andersson (13 assists, 24:14 TOI/game)
- C Elias Lindholm (17 points)
Notes: Lindholm, 28, snapped a five-game point drought with a goal vs. Montreal; Toffoli, 30, has two goals and three points in his last three after ending a five-game point drought; Andersson, 26, has been held off of the scoresheet in four of his last five (goal, two points); Kadri, 32, is on a seven-game scoring drought; LW Jonathan Huberdeau has a goal, four points over a three-game point-streak; C Mikael Backlund has one assist in his last six; D Noah Hanifin has three assists over his last three; LW Andrew Mangiapane has just four goals in 23 games after recording 35 last season; C Blake Coleman is on a five-game scoring drought
KEY TEAM STATS
Goals-per-game: WSH – 2.76 (27th) CGY – 2.91 (22nd)
Goals-against per game: WSH – 3.04 (T-12th) CGY – 3.09 (T-14th)
Power Play: WSH – 20.5% (22nd) CGY – 18.9% (24th)
Penalty Kill: WSH – 79.7% (12th) CGY – 79.5% (13th)
Shots-per-game: WSH – 29.8 (T-25th) CGY – 34.8 (fourth)
Shots-against per game: WSH – 30.8 (13th) CGY – 28.3 (fourth)
Faceoff-winning %: WSH – 47.7% (T-23rd) CGY – 50.1% (17th)
5v5 Corsi-for %: WSH – 50.84% (14th) CGY – 54.22% (fourth)
5v5 x Goals-For %: WSH – 48.92% (21st) CGY – 52.98% (eighth)
5v5 SCF %: WSH – 50.76% (15th) CGY – 51.06% (14th)
5v5 Shooting %: WSH – 7.8% (20th) CGY – 7.52% (25th)
5v5 Save %: WSH – .9192 (12th) CGY – .9093 (24th)
5v5 PDO: WSH – .997 (15th) CGY – .984 (28th)
EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS
Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 8-9-2, .915 save percentage, 2.53 goals-against average, two shutouts in 19 games this season; 7-2-1, .953 save percentage, 1.61 goals-against average, four shutouts in 11 career games vs. Calgary, including a 32-save shutout on November 25
Calgary: Jacob Markstrom, 32 — 8-6-2, .889 save percentage, 2.97 goals-against average in 17 games; 1-8-1, .896 save percentage, 3.20 goals-against average in 10 career games vs. Washington, including 22 saves (.880 save percentage) in last week’s game
INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Washington
- RW Connor Brown (lower-body, will miss 22nd straight game, out indefinitely)
- D Dmitry Orlov (lower-body, 13th, day-to-day)
- LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 26th, indefinite)
- RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 26th, indefinite)
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 26th, indefinite)
- LW Beck Malenstyn (finger, 15th, week-to-week)
Calgary
- D Oliver Kylington (personal, 20th, indefinite)
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Washington
Ovechkin — Strome — Sheary
Sonny Milano — Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Mantha
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — Carlson
Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: LW Joe Snively, RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel, D Alexander Alexeyev
Calgary
Huberdeau — Lindholm — Toffoli
Dillon Dube — Kadri — Mangiapane
Adam Ruzicka — Backlund — Coleman
Milan Lucic — Trevor Lewis — Brett Ritchie
Hanifin — Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar — Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov — Michael Stone
Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Scratched: D Connor Mackey, C Kevin Rooney
By Harrison Brown
