Rangers at Capitals
The Washington Capitals' high-powered offense has stalled of late, producing a total of two goals in back-to-back losses after churning out 18 over their first three contests. Washington hopes to get back in the groove when it continues its three-game homestand Wednesday against the New York Rangers.
Evgeny Kuznetsov tops the Capitals with nine points and shares the team lead in goals after scoring his fourth - all on the power play - in Saturday's 4-2 home setback against Toronto. The 26-year-old Russian, who is 10 assists away from 200 for his career, has recorded three multi-point performances in his first five games this season. New York visits the nation's capital for its lone road contest in a span of 17 days after completing a 2-1-0 homestand with a 3-2 shootout victory over Colorado on Tuesday. Mats Zuccarello and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk each notched two assists before scoring in the bonus format, with the latter's tally being the decisive one.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVA
ABOUT THE RANGERS (2-4-0): Chris Kreider took over the team lead in goals by scoring his third of the season against the Avalanche and Zuccarello grabbed the top spot in points (five) but has yet to tally this campaign. The 27-year-old Kreider had his string of consecutive 20-goal seasons snapped in 2017-18 as he scored only 16 while being limited to 58 contests due to injury. Kevin Hayes, who recorded a career-high 25 tallies last campaign, ended his season-opening drought at five games in Tuesday's victory.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (2-2-1): Captain Alex Ovechkin notched a pair of assists against the Maple Leafs for his third multi-point effort of 2018-19. The 33-year-old Russian has been held without a goal in back-to-back contests after netting eight tallies during a six-game streak that dated back to last regular season. Kuznetsov needs just three more power-play goals to match the career high of seven he set in 79 games last campaign.
OVERTIME
1. Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom has collected six assists in the first five contests and is four shy of 600 for his career.
2. New York has yet to provide David Quinn with his first regulation victory as an NHL coach, recording one win in overtime and one in a shootout.
3. Washington LW Jakub Vrana's next game will be his 100th in the NHL.