Capitals at Senators
A potential playoff preview will be on tap when the surging Washington Capitals visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Capitals are riding an eight-game winning streak that has carried them to the top of the Southeast Division and into third place in the Eastern Conference. The Senators have won three in a row and sit in sixth place in the East, meaning they would open the playoffs against Washington if the season ended today.
Captain Alex Ovechkin has sparked the Capitals' resurgence and is making a strong case to win his third Hart Trophy. Washington is 9-0-1 in its last 10 but still holds only a four-point lead over Winnipeg in the race for the division title. It is the second contest in a four-game homestand for Ottawa, which trails fifth-place Toronto by three points but is only four points clear of ninth-place Winnipeg. The Senators erased a two-goal deficit to defeat the Capitals 3-2 on Jan. 29.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN (Washington), Rogers Sportsnet East, TVA (ottawa)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (24-17-2): Ovechkin continued his goal-scoring binge, connecting for his league-leading 28th in Tuesday's 5-1 win over Toronto. He has 19 goals in his last 18 games and has notched multiple points in eight of the last 14 to thrust himself into the MVP race. “I’m obviously very biased about that. So my answer would be, yeah, absolutely,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said of Ovechkin's Hart Trophy hopes. “Obviously, Sidney Crosby is another candidate, for sure. He had such a scoring lead. But I think you gotta factor in the fact that he’s missed a lot of games. ... Alex has really led our team. You see it every night now."
ABOUT THE SENATORS (22-14-6): Ottawa has rebounded nicely from a five-game losing streak, earning its third straight victory by outlasting Carolina 3-2 on Tuesday night. Goaltender Craig Anderson made 32 saves to pick up his second win since suffering an ankle injury on Feb. 21. Milan Michalek has scored in each of the last two games after sitting out the previous 15 with a knee injury. A 35-goal scorer last season, Michalek could provide a much-needed jolt to an offense that produced only seven goals during the five-game skid and has not scored more than three goals in the last 10 games.
OVERTIME
1. The Capitals are seeking to win nine in a row for the first time since Feb. 26-March 15, 2011.
2. Ottawa is 14-3-3 at home after going 20-17-4 at Scotiabank Place last season.
3. Senators D Jared Cowen was a physical presence in his season debut, getting involved in two brawls vs. Carolina.