Golden Knights at Capitals
The Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights look to rebound from one of their dullest performances of the season when they continue a six-game road trip Sunday afternoon against the Washington Capitals. The Golden Knights, who own a 10-point lead in the Pacific Division, managed just 24 shots in a 5-2 loss at Minnesota on Friday.
“We didn’t play well at all (Friday),” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. “We looked like a tired team for the first time this year. There’s no excuse. You’re playing back-to-back, but everybody plays them.” Vegas visits Pittsburgh and San Jose after meeting the Capitals, who are coming off a disturbing loss of their own in which they gave up seven goals - three on the power play. Washington, which leads the Metropolitan Division, is 3-3-2 in its last eight games after surrendering the final three tallies in Friday's 7-4 setback at Pittsburgh. “At the end of the day, we just gave them a few too many odd-man rushes, and we lost the special-teams war,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz told reporters. “We didn’t kill any (penalties) off, and we didn’t score any (on the power play), so that ends up being the difference - three goals. We can play better.”
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Vegas), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (34-13-4): Erik Haula is riding a five-game goal-scoring streak during which he reached 20 for the first time in his career and has notched at least one point in eight straight contests to match David Perron. The 29-year-old Perron, who is second on the team behind Jonathan Marchessault (48) with 46 points, has recorded four goals and eight assists during his run while Reilly Smith has scored twice in his last three games. William Karlsson has not added to his career-high total of 27 goals in the last four games and All-Star James Neal (22 goals) was held without a shot in Friday’s setback.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (30-16-5): Captain Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the loss at Pittsburgh and has collected five goals and as many assists over his last seven games to increase his team-leading total to 56 points. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for just the second time in nine games Friday and has 48 points to rank second on the team while defenseman John Carlson has produced five of his 40 points over the last six contests. All-Star Braden Holtby (26-10-4, .914 save percentage) has allowed nine goals in his last two games, but backup Philipp Grubauer (4-6-3, .916 save percentage) is expected to start Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Vegas G Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves in a 3-0 victory against the Capitals on Dec. 23 and is 21-12-2 lifetime versus Washington.
2. The Golden Knights are 9-for-16 on the power play over their last six games while the Capitals are 6-for-18 in their past five.
3. Washington RW T.J. Oshie was fined $5,000 for cross-checking Pittsburgh D Kris Letang on Friday.