'Wednesday Night Hockey': 5 Storylines

The Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs each will try to end a slump in their last game before the All-Star break when they play the opener of a "Wednesday Night Hockey" doubleheader at Scotiabank Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, SN360, TVAS). Washington has lost six in a row, including 7-6 in overtime at home to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, and has dropped out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Toronto has lost four of five but is still second in the Atlantic Division.

Two of the best teams in the Western Conference will play in the second game when the Nashville Predators visit the Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN). A win would pull the Predators even in points with the first-place Winnipeg Jets (though they'll have played four more games). Vegas begins the night third in the Pacific Division, three points behind the second-place Sharks.
Here are 5 storylines to watch:

What's happening with the Capitals?

Washington thought it had ended a five-game losing streak Tuesday, only to see San Jose tie the game on a goal by Evander Kane at 19:59 of the third period before Tomas Hertl completed a hat trick by scoring in overtime. The loss dropped the Capitals to 0-4-2 since they defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 on Jan. 10. Most alarming is that they've allowed 30 goals in the losing streak, including 15 in consecutive losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Sharks. The good news is that Alex Ovechkin, who scored once in his previous five games, had a hat trick against San Jose. Ovechkin has 66 points (37 goals, 29 assists) in 46 games against the Maple Leafs. He needs one point to tie
Sergei Fedorov
for the most points by a Russia-born player in NHL history.

Maple Leafs shuffle lines

With his team 3-7-0 in its past 10 games and coming off consecutive losses to the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes, Toronto coach Mike Babcock decided to shuffle his lines at practice Monday. He moved his top scorer, right wing Mitchell Marner, off the line centered by John Tavares and on to one with Auston Matthews at center and Patrick Marleau on left wing. Kasperi Kapanen was moved to right wing with Tavares and left wing Zach Hyman, and Nazem Kadri was at center on a line with Connor Brown and William Nylander. Babcock has remained upbeat throughout the slump, trying to reinforce the positives. But he might be taking a risk by splitting up Tavares and Marner, who have been Toronto's most dynamic scoring pair so far this season.

Power's off in Toronto

One thing that would help the Maple Leafs would be more power plays. Though Toronto is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals per game (3.50), it is last in the NHL in power-play opportunities (121; the Dallas Stars are 30th with 131) and has 18 in its past 10 games. The power play could be a great place for players such as Matthews (one goal in 13 games) and Nylander (one goal in 20 games) to rediscover their scoring touch. Even Tavares, who leads the Maple Leafs with 30 goals, has just one in his past five games and hasn't scored a power-play goal since Dec. 28.

Looking for No. 601

Peter Laviolette hopes to start working on his next 100 wins after becoming the 20th coach in NHL history and the second born in the United States to reach 600 victories when the Predators defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in Denver on Monday. Laviolette coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006 and has guided the Philadelphia Flyers (2010) and Predators (2017) to the Cup Final. Of his 600 wins, 211 have come with the Predators. Laviolette has been behind the bench during Nashville's rise to one of the top teams in the NHL; the Predators followed their trip to the 2017 Final by winning the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in 2017-18. He's succeeded in getting the most out of his players and making them feel part of something bigger than their own game.

Golden Knights are no fluke

Vegas stunned the NHL in its first season by winning the Pacific Division, defeating the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Jets in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to win the Western Conference title, and defeating the Capitals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final before losing the next four. The Golden Knights got off to a bumpy start in Year Two, but they are 15-5-3 in their past 23 games since Dec. 4. They've found the form that made them so tough to play against in their first NHL season, using their speed to push the pace, cutting down time and space for their opponents, and getting solid goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury, who leads the NHL with 27 wins.