Jets at Capitals
Two teams headed in wildly different directions meet Thursday night in Washington as the reeling Capitals host the surging Winnipeg Jets. Washington can't wait for the Olympic break to arrive, having dropped 15 of their last 21 games to tumble from possible Metropolitan Division title contender to fringe playoff team. The Jets are on the outside looking in as well, but have new life with nine wins in 11 games since hiring Paul Maurice as coach.
Not only do the Capitals have to contend with a crush of teams in a similar spot in the standings, they aren't in a great position where the tiebreaker is concerned. Washington has just 17 regulation victories on the season, fourth-fewest in the NHL - and while it has been a master of the extra point, it won't matter much if the Capitals find themselves in a logjam down the stretch. The Jets are coming off a 2-1 victory over Carolina behind 28 saves from Ondrej Pavelec.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN (Winnipeg), CSMA (Washington)
ABOUT THE JETS (28-25-5): Winnipeg doesn't rely on star power, instead banking on contributions from all four lines. That approach is yielding results - not only in the win column, where the Jets have been one of the hottest teams in the league since the flip of the calendar, but also on the scoresheet. Winnipeg leads the NHL in double-digit goal scorers with nine, prompting Maurice to tell the Winnipeg Free Press: "You look at the stats sheet, each of our top three scorers are on a different line. Then go down, the next three ... are all on a different line."
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (25-23-9): Washington's scoring is far less balanced - and while the top-heavy approach occasionally pays dividends, it has fallen on hard times of late. The Capitals have dropped to the middle of the pack in goals per game (2.7) despite employing the NHL goal-scoring leader in captain Alex Ovechkin, who has an NHL-best 39 tallies. Ovechkin scored the game winner in Washington's 6-5 overtime win over Detroit on Sunday, but followed that up with just three shots and a minus-1 rating in Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders.
OVERTIME
1. Washington has won five straight meetings against Winnipeg, averaging 4.6 goals over that stretch.
2. Ovechkin has 24 goals in 27 home games this season.
3. The Capitals are 12-9 in games decided in extra time, while the Jets are 9-5.