Capitals at Lightning
Ben Bishop is expected to be in net this time around when his Tampa Bay Lightning host their former Southeast Division-rival Washington Capitals on Saturday. Bishop is off to the best start of his career and has allowed only 23 goals in his last 15 contests to keep the Lightning afloat, but he was rested for a 4-2 loss at Washington on Nov. 27.
Bishop, who has won his last three starts, owns a 1.95 goals-against average and .931 save percentage after making 30 saves in a 4-1 triumph over Ottawa on Thursday - Tampa Bay's third win in four games. Washington’s Braden Holtby has been just as important, topping the NHL with 17 victories while sharing the league lead in GAA with Bishop. Holtby, who is 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts and has yielded 23 goals in the past 13, sat out a 4-1 loss at Florida on Thursday. The Capitals are 7-1-1 in their last nine overall contests and have posted three straight wins versus the Lightning.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, CSN-DC (Washington), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (19-6-2): Washington’s eight-game point streak came to an end with a flat performance at Florida, prompting veteran forward Justin Williams to tell the Washington Post, “We weren’t good enough in a lot of aspects.” Captain Alex Ovechkin has netted a goal in two straight games while Evgeny Kuznetsov, the team's leading scorer with 27 points, has notched just one in his last five contests. Nicklas Backstrom has posted two goals and eight assists during his seven-game point streak and needs four points to reach 600 in his career.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (14-12-3): Left wing J.T. Brown has recorded 12 points in 27 games this season after managing just nine in 52 contests in 2014-15. Brown was teamed with Valtteri Filppula and Ryan Callahan on Thursday, and the trio collected four points while being used as a key checking unit against Ottawa’s top scoring line. Captain Steven Stamkos (11 goals) skated between Nikita Kucherov (four goals in three games) and Ondrej Palat at practice Friday while Tyler Johnson, the duo’s regular center, sat out for “body maintenance.”
OVERTIME
1. Ovechkin has registered 38 goals and 39 assists in 58 career games against the Lightning.
2. Tampa Bay C Brian Boyle, who has scored four goals in his last eight games, is slated to play in his 500th NHL contest Saturday.
3. Washington C Chris Brown made his 2015-16 debut after suffering a broken finger in the preseason.