Senators at Capitals preview

SENATORS (16-21-5) at CAPITALS (29-9-5)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV

Ovechkin, who has 47 points (27 goals, 20 assists) in 46 games against Ottawa, has scored 682 goals in the NHL, two behind Selanne (684).
The Capitals have won two straight and are 13-5-0 in their past 18 games.
Ottawa is 0-3-1 in its past four games after going 5-2-3 in their previous 10. Forward Anthony Duclair could to play after missing one game with an undisclosed injury.

Players to watch

Senators forward Nicholas Paul has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.
Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"They're the best team record-wise and probably the biggest team. Coming off a Stanley Cup two years ago, they're still a hungry team and it's good for us. We're at the start of our plan and they're either in the middle or near the end of their run, so they're at the height of their game and we're going to measure ourselves against them." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith
"We know it's a team that if we don't match their work ethic then we're in for a long night. It's been impressive watching them on video. So we've got to come ready to work and hope we can take advantage of some of the opportunities we do get … We know they're well-prepared and they're a hard-working group." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Antony Duclair
Nick Paul -- Colin White -- Drake Batherson
Tyler Ennis -- Chris Tierney -- Connor Brown
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Artem Anisimov -- Rudolfs Balcers
Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo
Mark Borowiecki -- Christian Jaros
Mike Reilly -- Cody Goloubef
Craig Anderson
Marcus Hogberg
Scratched:Mikkel Boedker, Andreas Englund, Scott Sabourin
Injured:Nikita Zaitsev (undisclosed), Anders Nilsson (concussion), Ron Hainsey (undisclosed)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Richard Panik
Brendan Leipsic -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Jonas Siegenthaler -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Michal Kempny -- Radko Gudas
Ilya Samsonov
Braden Holtby
Scratched:Travis Boyd
Injured:Christian Djoos (upper body)

Status report

The Senators did not hold a morning skate. … DeMelo could return after missing 10 games because of a broken finger. …Djoos participated in the morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey.

Stat pack

Duclair has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past nine games. … Namestnikov is expected to play his 400th NHL game. … The Capitals are 17-1-3 when they score first. ... Samsonov (11-2-1) is the first goalie in Capitals history with 11 wins in his first 13 starts.