Senators at Capitals
The surging Washington Capitals aim to extend their point streak to nine games when they host the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Nicklas Backstrom continued his torrid stretch by recording his second two-goal performance in four games while also adding an assist in the Capitals' 4-0 victory at New Jersey on Saturday. Backstrom has scored five goals and set up four others in his last six games for Washington, which has won two in a row and owns a 6-0-2 mark in its last eight contests.
Ottawa coach Dave Cameron saw his team drop a 4-1 decision to Montreal on Saturday and fall to 3-2-1 under his watch. Craig Anderson was a spectator in that clash but is expected to return to the net after posting a 3-1-0 mark in his last four outings while boasting an 11-5-1 mark with two shutouts against Washington. Anderson made 34 saves in the teams' last meeting on Jan. 21, as the Senators skated to a 2-0 triumph to complete a three-game regular-season sweep of the Capitals.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS (Ottawa), CSN-DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (14-13-6): While genuinely pleased with his team's performance on Saturday, Cameron did take issue with the club recording just one shot on goal over three failed power-play opportunities. "We generated absolutely nothing off of the power play, not even momentum, and we knew they were going to get wind with a big (penalty) kill," Cameron said. Ottawa had scored one goal with the man advantage in six of its previous eight contests.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (16-10-6): Braden Holtby turned aside all 21 shots he faced Saturday for his second shutout of the season and improved to 11-3-3 in his last 17 starts, but the Saskatchewan native may take a seat considering he has dropped all three career decisions to Ottawa while posting a 3.05 goals-against average. Captain Alex Ovechkin has enjoyed much better success versus the Senators, recording 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 31 career meetings. The three-time Hart Trophy winner scored a highlight-reel tally against the Devils for his first goal since netting a pair versus Tampa Bay on Dec. 9.
OVERTIME
1. Washington's eight-game point run is its longest since April 2013.
2. Senators C Kyle Turris has scored three goals and set up another in his last three games and had two tallies and an assist last season versus the Capitals.
3. Washington D Mike Green has recorded one goal and two assists in his last two contests.