Sharks at Capitals preview

SHARKS (14-9-2) at CAPITALS (15-11-1)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSWA, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Ovechkin, who has six goals in his past five games, is tied with Hockey Hall of Fame member Mark Recchi with 577.
Sharks center Joe Thornton is close to a climbing an all-time NHL list as well. He has 1,409 points, two behind Hall of Fame member Dale Hawerchuk for 19th in League history.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Logan Couture needs three points to reach 400 in the NHL. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.
Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov has three goals in the past two games and six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five.

They said it

"Winning is exciting. This isn't WWF wresting. We're here to win games. That's what our job is. I disagree, I think it is exciting. Where we've fallen is we haven't stuck the puck in net. But we create as many chances as a lot of the teams in the League offensively." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on their deliberate brand of hockey
"The last couple of years Washington has won the Presidents' Trophy] and they haven't had any injuries. Not a whole lot you can do. Every day you come to the rink in Hershey [American Hockey League] and keep getting better and better. Eventually you're going to catch a break and get a chance." *-- Capitals forward [Travis Boyd, who was called up from the AHL on Sunday and will make his NHL debut*

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen
-- Chris Tierney -- Joel Ward
Barclay Goodrow --
Danny O'Regan
-- Jannik Hansen
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns
Joakim Ryan -- Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Melker Karlsson](https://www.nhl.com/player/melker-karlsson-8477922?season=20172018), Ryan Carpenter
Injured:Joonas Donskoi (lower body), Tim Heed (upper body), Paul Martin (ankle), Mikkel Boedker (undisclosed)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Travis Boyd -- Lars Eller - Brett Connolly
Devante Smith-Pelly -- Jay Beagle -- Alex Chiasson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- John Carlson
Christian Djoos -- Madison Bowey
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Scratched:Tyler Graovac, Taylor Chorney
Injured: Andre Burakovsky](https://www.nhl.com/player/andre-burakovsky-8477444?season=20172018) (fractured left thumb), Chandler Stephenson (upper body)

Status report

Boyd, 24, had 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 23 AHL games. He'll replace Stephenson in the lineup. … Martin could play against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday. He's been out since Oct. 7. Sorensen will make his season debut.

Stat pack

The Sharks have killed 69 of 76 penalties in the past 24 games (90.8 percent). They're second in the NHL on the season at 87.6 percent; the Los Angeles Kings lead at 89.5 percent.