Canadiens at Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens attempt to generate some offense and halt their five-game road losing streak when they visit the Washington Capitals on Friday. Montreal is coming off a 4-1 setback at Boston on Wednesday and has scored a total of four goals during their slide away from home.
Jakub Jerabek recorded the lone tally - his first in the NHL - and has collected all three of his career points over the last two games for the Canadiens, who are 0-1-2 in their last three overall. Washington will need to bounce back quickly after falling 4-3 in overtime at New Jersey on Thursday. Brett Connolly scored twice in the loss, giving him three goals in his last two contests and 12 on the season to climb into third place on the club. Captain Alex Ovechkin, who leads the Capitals with 49 points, has registered five goals and seven assists over his last eight games but has been kept off the scoresheet in two of the past three.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TSN2, RDS (Montreal), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (18-21-6): Logan Shaw hopes to make his debut for the team on Friday, as he was a healthy scratch in the loss to the Bruins after being claimed off waivers from Anaheim two days earlier. "I'll work every shift I'm out there and do my best to help this team win," the 25-year-old right wing, who notched two goals and six assists in 42 games with the Ducks this season, told Montreal's website after joining the club. "I play a two-way game and I'll just dig in, play strong defensively and try to chip in offensively whenever I can." Brendan Gallagher leads the Canadiens with 16 goals but has produced only three in his last 17 contests.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (28-14-4): Connolly pulled within three points of 100 in the NHL with Thursday's two-goal performance and needs three more tallies to match the career high he set last season. Evgeny Kuznetsov notched an assist against the Devils, giving him three points over his last four contests after recording just one in his previous six games. The 25-year-old Russian ranks second on the team in goals (13), assists (29) and points (42).
OVERTIME
1. Ovechkin needs two assists to reach 500 in the NHL.
2. Montreal C Tomas Plekanec is mired in a 10-game point drought and remains three away from 600 for his career.
3. Washington C Nicklas Backstrom has gone four games without a goal, keeping him three shy of 200.