Capitals at Avalanche
Alex Ovechkin takes his show on the road as he bids to become the eighth member of the 700-goal club on Thursday when the Washington Capitals open a three-game road trip against the Colorado Avalanche. Ovechkin, who has 698 goals, has answered a sizzling 14-goal run in a seven-game stretch by being held off the scoresheet in consecutive contests.
When asked if there is less pressure to reach his milestone on the road as opposed to home, Ovechkin provided a swift answer on Wednesday: "Whatever." The three-time Hart Trophy recipient, who matched a season-worst minus-4 rating in Washington's 5-3 setback to the New York Islanders on Monday, scored and set up a goal in a 6-3 loss to Colorado on Oct. 14. While the Capitals have dropped three of their last four games to see their lead atop the Metropolitan Division shrink to three points, the Avalanche have moved within one of Central-leading St. Louis after winning five in a row and eight of their last nine. Former Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer improved to 6-1-0 with a 1.58 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in his last seven starts after turning aside all 34 shots he faced in Colorado's 3-0 victory over Ottawa on Tuesday.
TIME: 9:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network, NBCS Washington, Altitude, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Pacific
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (36-15-5): Lost in Ovechkin's quest for history has been a generous Washington defense that has allowed 12 goals over its last two games, with former Vezina Trophy recipient Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov each being pulled from their respective starts. "There's a number of reasons that go into why your team struggles defending," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "Some of it's your management with the puck, some of it's the detail that you have in your game and we're working through that process right now." Offensive-minded defenseman John Carlson scored and set up a goal on Monday to record his third multi-point performance in five outings while forward T.J. Oshie has collected eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (33-16-6): Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists) after setting up a pair of goals against the Senators. The former top overall pick also recorded a multi-point performance (one goal, one assist) in the previous meeting with Washington while former Capital Andre Burakovsky set up defenseman Erik Johnson's tally to ignite a four-goal first period in that contest. Fellow forward Mikko Rantanen collected a goal and two assists in that encounter with Washington and also scored versus Ottawa to move within two goals of 100 and three points shy of 250 for his career.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado resides one victory shy of matching its season-high win streak of six, set from Nov. 27-Dec. 7.
2. Washington C Evgeny Kuznetsov will sit out Thursday's game after sustaining an upper-body injury against the Islanders, the team announced.
3. The Avalanche have won four in a row at home and recorded at least a point in seven straight games at Pepsi Center (5-0-2).