The Washington Capitals will face former head coach Peter Laviolette and the New York Rangers for the first time this campaign on Saturday night (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network locally, ESPN+ out-of-market). The teams split last year’s season set, though New York won the last two. All four meetings for the 2023-24 season will take place over a span of 35 days.
Schedule
New York: close stretch where they play three of four and consecutive games on the road, open back-to-back with a date set with the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday; first game since a 6-2 loss at Ottawa Senators on Tuesday
Washington: play second of just four stops at home over a span of 16 games and wrap up two-game homestand after Thursday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars; start back-to-back with the team set to begin a three-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night
How Each Team Is Doing
New York: has won three of their past five since 13-1-1 stretch ended
Washington: has gone 2-4-1 in last seven, including three straight losses (0-2-1), after going 9-1-1 over their previous 11
Standings
New York: 18-5-1 (.771 points percentage — first in NHL); tied with Boston Bruins for Eastern Conference lead win points with a game in hand; have seven-point lead for first place in Metropolitan Division with two games in hand
Washington: 12-8-3 (.587 points percentage — second in Metropolitan Division, sixth in Eastern Conference); three points behind Philadelphia Flyers for second in division (in actual points) with three games in hand; two back New York Islanders (two) and Carolina Hurricanes (three) for third; tied with New Jersey Devils (one); two points ahead of Pittsburgh Penguins (two)
Team Leaders
The graph exemplifies each teams’ player leaders. Panarin ranks top three in the NHL in both goals and assists entering Friday’s schedule.
Team Statistics
The following chart pictures New York and Washington’s game averages entering Saturday’s slate. New York is among the NHL leaders across offensive, defensive, special teams, and faceoff categories.
The second graph examines both teams’ underlying statistics at five-on-five so far this season. Both teams have underwhelming possession metrics but they offer solid goaltending.
Injuries/Illnesses
New York
- RW Kaapo Kakko (lower-body)
- C Filip Chytil (upper-body)
Washington
- LW Max Pacioretty (Achilles)
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
Expected Goaltending Matchup
New York: Igor Shesterkin, 27 — 10-5-0 (tied for fourth in NHL in wins), .911 save percentage, 2.75 goals-against average, two shutouts (tied for second)
Washington: Charlie Lindgren, 29 — 5-2-1 (tied for ninth), .924 save percentage (sixth), 2.61 goals-against average, one shutout (tied for third)
Projected Lines
New York
Chris Kreider — Mika Zibanejad — Jonny Brodzinski
Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Nick Bonino — Blake Wheeler
Jimmy Vesey — Barclay Goodrow — Tyler Pitlick
Ryan Lindgren — Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller — Trouba
Erik Gustafsson — Braden Schnieder
Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: C Riley Nash, D Zac Jones
Washington
Ovechkin — Strome — Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas — Connor McMichael — Anthony Mantha
Hendrix Lapierre — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary — Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson — Nick Jensen
Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: RW Sonny Milano, D Alexander Alexeyev, RW Matthew Philipps
Betting Odds (BetMGM)
New York: -160, Washington: +135
Over-under: 6 (-105 over, -115 under)
By Harrison Brown