Devils at Capitals
The Washington Capitals have lost half of their last eight games and have seen their lead for the best record in the league clipped to two points over the Boston Bruins. After having a three-game winning streak snapped, the Capitals look to get back on track when they open a three-game homestand against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
While Washington has dominated the series against the Devils, winning 17 of the past 20 games, coach Todd Reirden was not happy with Wednesday's 3-2 setback at Philadelphia. "Sitting here at 30 wins we are doing a lot of good things, but games like this, you got to make sure you take the proper lessons and proper messages out of it and get better because we are still a team that is looking to grow and get better,” Reirden said. Losers of three straight after coming off a 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers, the Devils will play five of the next six on the road, including two games at Washington in a six-day span. "With the way things are going, we need to win a lot in a little time," forward Blake Coleman said. "We've got five games before the (All-Star) break to really make a statement and feel good about ourselves going into it."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG-Plus2, NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-21-7): New Jersey poured 49 shots on goal at Madison Square Garden, but continues to get burned at the other end, allowing 15 goals during the three-game skid. "You can't be giving up six goals and expect to win," interim coach Alain Nasreddine said. "That's where the focus is going to continue to go and it's something we've talked about the last couple of days so I guess we've got a lot more work to do." No. 1 overall pick Jack Hughes (upper body) has been sidelined the past four games.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (30-10-5): Washington has not scored on the power play in three games and failed on all five chances in Wednesday's loss, leading to a shake-up during Friday's practice. Jakub Vrana has scored four times in four games to boost his season total to 19 goals -- all at even strength -- and was elevated to the No. 1 power-play unit. “I’ve been watching them for almost three years now, and I’ve learned a lot,” Vrana said. “You know, it is a good opportunity, and I want to take advantage of every chance I got.”
OVERTIME
1. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin needs one goal to move past Teemu Selanne (684) and into sole possession of 11th on the all-time list.
2. Devils F Jesper Bratt (lower body) has sat out the past two games.
3. Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov has four goals and five assists during a seven-game point streak.