Capitals at Red Wings
Defenseman Mike Green recorded 360 points in 10 seasons with the Washington Capitals before leaving as a free agent this past offseason. The two-time Norris Trophy finalist, who returned last game after missing six contests with a shoulder injury, will face his former team for the first time when the Detroit Red Wings host the red-hot Capitals on Tuesday.
Green notched his 250th career assist in a 4-1 loss to Dallas on Sunday as the Red Wings saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Detroit must find its best form against Washington, which has won four of its last five games and is one of only five teams in the league with double-digit victories. Captain Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with eight goals - one in each of the last three games - and has 483 in his career, needing one to pass newly inducted Hall-of-Famer Sergei Fedorov for the most by a Russian-born player in NHL history. Five players have recorded at least 11 points for Washington, which is 4-1-0 on the road.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TVA, CSN-DC Plus (Washington), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (10-3-0): Washington is in the top eight of the league in scoring, goals against, power play and penalty-killing through the first month of the season. Fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov is tied with Ovechkin for the team lead at 15 points while defenseman John Carlson (12 points) is off to a strong start. Braden Holtby’s numbers don’t look overly impressive (2.10 goals-against average, .917 save percentage), but he has registered eight wins and the Capitals lead the league in shots allowed per contest (25.2).
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (7-6-1): First-year coach Jeff Blashill told reporters he saw a lot of good things in the loss to Dallas on Sunday, but “We’ve got to find a way to score more goals.” Green’s presence and the likely return of Pavel Datsyuk (ankle) in the next week should help the Red Wings, who are an uncharacteristic 23rd in the league in scoring (2.36). Captain Henrik Zetterberg leads Detroit with 15 points while Gustav Nyquist scored his team-high sixth goal – fourth on the power play – in Sunday’s game.
OVERTIME
1. Washington C Nicklas Backstrom has recorded multiple points in four of his first 10 games this season.
2. Detroit LW Landon Ferraro (sprained knee) missed Sunday’s contest and his status is uncertain for Tuesday.
3. Kuznetsov scored two goals as the Capitals won two of three against the Red Wings last season.