Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins both return from their respective bye-weeks and the NHL All-Star Break on Saturday afternoon for their second of three meetings this regular season. In the first meeting, Boston won by a score of 5-2 on opening night in the nation’s capital.

Boston has taken 10 of the last 14 games between the two teams, including their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series. Action from TD Garden can be seen on ABC or ESPN+ starting just after 3:30 PM ET.

SCHEDULE

Washington: end stretch where they play seven of nine games (4-4-0 so far), including their three straight, on the road

Boston: play just second home game during a stretch where they play 11 of 14 on the road (2-2-1 on five-game road trip preceding break)

RECORDS

Washington: 27-20-6/.566 points percentage – fourth in Metropolitan Division (fifth in points percentage), seventh in Eastern Conference (eighth); 13-12-3 on road, 14th in NHL (have won 10 of last 14 away from home)

Boston: 39-7-5/.814 points percentage – first in NHL, seven-point lead for first in Eastern Conference; 22-1-3 at home (first)

HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING

Washington: won two of last three before break after losing five of their previous eight in regulation

Boston: lost three straight (0-2-1) for first time all season before defeating Toronto Maple Leafs in final game before break

TEAM LEADERS

Washington

• LW Alex Ovechkin (32 goals, 54 points)
• C Evgeny Kuznetsov (36 assists)
• D Dmitry Orlov (22:44 TOI/game) — excluding D John Carlson

Notes: Ovechkin, 37, has been held scoreless in three of his last five games (two goals); Kuznetsov, 30, has six assists, seven points in his last eight; Orlov, 31, has only an assist in his last five; C Dylan Strome has been held scoreless in three straight, where he tallied a -1 rating in each contest; LW Conor Sheary has just two assists, three points in last 13; C Lars Eller ended a 12-game scoring drought with an assist in Washington’s 4-3 overtime win over Columbus Blue Jackets in their final game before break; LW Anthony Mantha has just one assist in his last eight; LW Marcus Johansson has two goals, four points in his last five; D Erik Gustafsson ended three-game scoring drought with two assists vs. Columbus; D Nick Jensen tallied a -6 rating in 14 games over January; LW Sonny Milano has just two assists, three points in last 11, including none over last two

Boston

• RW David Pastrnak (38 goals, 34 assists, 72 points)
• LW Brad Marchand (30 assists, 1.16 points-per-game)
• D Hampus Lindholm (23:35 TOI/game)

Notes: Pastrnak, 26, has never gone scoreless in back-to-back games this season, 19 goals and 32 points in last 22, and at least 20 more goals and 26 more points than any of his teammates; Marchand, 34, went scoreless over final three before break; C David Krejci has 10 assists, 11 points over last nine; C Patrice Bergeron has gone scoreless in four straight; C Pavel Zacha has six goals, 10 points over last nine; LW Taylor Hall has only two goals in last nine; D Charlie McAvoy has seven assists, nine points over last nine; C Charlie Coyle has two assists, three points in last three; C Trent Frederic has just one assist in last seven

KEY TEAM STATS

Goals-per-game:                 WSH – 3.11 (17th)            BOS – 3.73 (1st)

Goals-against per game:   WSH – 2.83 (11th)           BOS – 2.12 (1st)

Power Play:                          WSH – 20.5% (19th)       BOS – 25.1% (5th)

Penalty Kill:                         WSH – 81.4% (T-9th)     BOS – 85.8% (1st)

Shots-per-game:                 WSH – 31.8 (17th)           BOS – 33.5 (6th)

Shots-against per game:   WSH – 30.2 (9th)            BOS – 29.3 (7th)

Faceoff-winning %:            WSH – 49.8% (18th)      BOS – 55.2% (2nd)

5v5 Corsi-for %:                  WSH – 51.11% (14th)      BOS – 51.16% (13th)

5v5 x Goals-For %:             WSH – 51.58% (15th)     BOS – 53.71% (5th)

5v5 SCF %:                           WSH – 51.35% (14th)     BOS – 52.87% (8th)

5v5 Shooting %:                  WSH – 8.24% (19th)      BOS – 9.45% (4th)

5v5 Save %:                          WSH – .9173 (17th)        BOS – .9392 (1st)

5v5 PDO:                              WSH – 1 (T-14th)            BOS – 1.034 (1st)

EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS

Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 15-11-3 (T-19th in wins), .915 save percentage (T-15th), 2.62 goals-against average (15th), five shutouts (T-first) in 34 games this season; 1-7-0, .890 save percentage, 3.17 goals-against average in eight career games vs. Boston, including 25-save performance (.862 save percentage) on opening night

🗣 DARCY KUEMPER WITH HIS 30th CAREER @pepsi SHUTOUT ‼️

With tonight’s 27-save performance, Kuemper now leads the league in shutouts on the season with five under his belt. pic.twitter.com/VERa6ZnXAL

— NHL (@NHL) January 20, 2023

Boston: Linus Ullmark, 29 — 26-4-1 (1st), .937 save percentage (1st), 1.90 goals-against average (1st), two shutouts in 33 games; 5-5-1, .898 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average in 11 career games vs. Washington, but 33-save outing (.943 save percentage) in first meeting between two teams

INJURIES/ILLNESSES

Washington

• Carlson (upper-body, will miss 18th straight game, out indefinitely)
• RW Connor Brown (ACL, 50th, indefinite)
• LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 54th, indefinite)
• C Nic Dowd (lower-body, eighth, indefinite)
• RW Tom Wilson (lower-body, fourth, day-to-day)

Boston

• LW Jake DeBrusk (lower-body, 15th, indefinite)
• C Vinni Lettieri (lower-body, second, indefinite)
• C Tomas Nosek (non-displaced fracture in left foot, seventh, week-to-week)

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Washington

Ovechkin — Strome — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Sheary — Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Johansson — Nicklas Backstrom — Milano
Mantha — Eller — Garnet Hathaway

Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Orlov — Jensen
Matt Irwin — Martin Fehervary

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: D Alexander Alexeyev, C Aliaksei Protas

Boston

Marchand — Bergeron — Craig Smith
Zacha — Krejci — Pastrnak
Hall — Coyle — Nick Foligno
A.J. Greer — Frederic — Jakob Lauko

Matt Grzelcyk — McAvoy
Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Connor Clifton

Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman

Scratched: D Anton Stralman, D Jakub Zboril

By Harrison Brown