Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals host the Florida Panthers on Thursday for the first time since Florida eliminated Washington in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series last May. Florida also took the first meeting of this season between the two teams by a score of 5-2 at FLA Live Arena on November 15. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market.
SCHEDULE
Florida: continue four-game road trip after splitting the first two games of it, most recently a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday
Washington: conclude three-game homestand but continue stretch where they play six of seven at Capital One Arena, which they have lost their first two of in regulation after a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday
RECORDS
Florida: 27-23-7/.535 points percentage – fourth in Atlantic Division (but sixth in points percentage), 10th in Eastern Conference (12th); 12-16-3 on road (22nd in NHL)
Washington: 28-22-6/.554 points percentage – fifth in Metropolitan Division, eighth in Eastern Conference; 14-10-3 at home (15th)
HOW EACH TEAM IS DOING
Florida: 23-23-5 since 4-1-1 start to season, including two regulation losses in their last three since a three-game winning-streak ended
Washington: has lost nine of last 15 since 15-3-3 stretch
TEAM LEADERS
Florida
- C Carter Verhaeghe (29 goals)
- LW Matthew Tkachuk (48 assists, 75 points)
- D Brandon Montour (24:17 TOI/game)
Notes: Tkachuk, 24, leads the NHL in assists (22) and points (32) in 19 games since January 2 and has at least 26 more points than any of his teammates this season; Verhaeghe, 27, snapped a three-game scoring drought with a goal and an assist in St. Louis; Montour, 28, snapped a three-game scoring drought with an assist in St. Louis and has career-highs in goals (10), assists (35), and points (45) in just 55 games this season; C Aleksander Barkov has just one goal in his last four since an 11-game point-streak (12 assists, 17 points) ended; D Gustav Forsling has just one assist in his last nine; C Eetu Luostarinen has three goals, five points in his last five, including goals in back-to-back games; D Aaron Ekblad has just one assist in his last four
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: C Dylan Strome has been held scoreless in six straight; LW Conor Sheary has just two assists, three points in last 16; C Lars Eller has just one assist in his last 16; LW Anthony Mantha has just one assist in his last 10, including none in his last five; D Erik Gustafsson has three assists in his last four; D Nick Jensen tallied a -6 rating in last 17 games; LW Sonny Milano has just two assists, three points in last 14, including none over last five; D Trevor Van Riemsdyk has two goals, four points in last four; LW Joe Snively tallied a goal and assist vs. Carolina in his first game since December 31
KEY TEAM STATS
Goals-per-game: FLA – 3.4 (7th) WSH – 3.04 (20th)
Goals-against per game: FLA – 3.44 (23rd) WSH – 2.82 (11th)
Power Play: FLA – 22.1% (T-15th) WSH – 19.9% (T-21st)
Penalty Kill: FLA – 75.6% (T-24th) WSH – 81.2% (9th)
Shots-per-game: FLA – 36.1 (1st) WSH – 31.6 (17th)
Shots-against per game: FLA – 32.5 (24th) WSH – 30.2 (T-9th)
Faceoff-winning %: FLA – 48.6% (23rd) WSH – 49.7% (18th)
5v5 Corsi-for %: FLA – 53.44% (4th) WSH – 50.87% (16th)
5v5 x Goals-For %: FLA – 53.12% (7th) WSH – 51.3% (15th)
5v5 SCF %: FLA – 54.1% (4th) WSH – 50.87% (17th)
5v5 Shooting %: FLA – 8.25% (18th) WSH – 8.14% (20th)
5v5 Save %: FLA – .9163 (18th) WSH – .9182 (14th)
5v5 PDO: FLA – .999 (T-16th) WSH – 1 (T-14th)
EXPECTED STARTING GOALTENDERS
Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky, 34 — 15-14-2, .905 save percentage, 3.05 goals-against average, one shutout in 34 games this season; 11-13-5, .900 save percentage, 3.01 goals-against average, shutout in 31 career regular-season games vs. Washington, including a 41-save (.953 save percentage) performance in November
Washington: Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 16-15-4, .915 save percentage (14th), 2.59 goals-against average (14th), five shutouts (T-1st) in 36 games; 3-4-0, .918 save percentage, 2.62 goals-against average, one shutout in eight career games against Florida, including a 38-save (.905) outing four months ago
🗣 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
INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Florida
- RW Anthony Duclair (Achilles, will miss 58th straight game, out indefinitely)
- RW Patric Hornqvist (concussion, 33rd, indefinite)
- C Sam Bennett (undisclosed, first, day-to-day)
Washington
- Carlson (upper-body, 21st, indefinite)
- Ovechkin (death of father, second, day-to-day)
- RW Connor Brown (ACL, 53rd, indefinite)
- LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 57th, indefinite)
- C Nic Dowd (lower-body, 11th, indefinite)
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Florida
Anton Lundell — Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Verhaeghe — Chris Tierney — Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg — Luostarinen — Gregorio Denisenko
Nick Cousins — Eric Staal — Givani Smith
Forsling — Ekblad
Marc Staal — Montour
Josh Mahura — Radko Gudas
Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: D Casey Fitzgerald
Washington
Sheary — Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano — Nicklas Backstrom — Marcus Johansson
Snively — Dylan Strome — T.J. Oshie
Nicolas Aube-Kubel — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Martin Fehervary
Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Eller, D Dylan McIlrath, D Alexander Alexeyev, C Aliaksei Protas
* Washington will have to make a roster move before puck drop after McIlrath was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Wednesday
By Harrison Brown