Rangers at Capitals
The Washington Capitals can reach the 100-point mark with more than a month left in the regular season when they entertain the Metropolitan Division-rival New York Rangers on Friday. The Capitals posted two straight victories this week and have won four in a row against the Rangers this season, totaling 21 goals in the process.
Washington goaltender Braden Holtby, who was rested in Wednesday’s 3-2 triumph over Toronto, can match the team record he shares with Olaf Kolzig (1999-2000) of 41 victories in a season. Holtby will have to cool off New York, which has won five of its last seven despite a 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday. Henrik Lundqvist did not come out for the third period against the Penguins after suffering “neck spasms," but coach Alain Vigneault told reporters he did not think it was serious. That might lead to a start for backup Antti Raanta, who stopped all three shots he faced Thursday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, MSG 2 (New York), CSN-DC Plus (Washington)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (37-21-6): Chris Kreider scored the only goal for New York on Thursday – his third in four games – and Mats Zuccarello notched an assist to take over the team lead with 47 points. Defenseman Marc Staal missed Thursday’s contest with a lower-body injury while Jesper Fast returned to the lineup after missing a game with an illness. Derick Brassard has recorded one point in his last six games and sits one behind Zuccarello for the team lead while the newly acquired Eric Staal has registered three shots but no points in two games.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (47-12-4): Evgeny Kuznetsov continues to produce, notching two goals and two assists in his last four games to lead the league’s best offense with 66 points. Nicklas Backstrom (60 points) has registered six assists in his last four contests and captain Alex Ovechkin recorded his league-leading 41st goal on Wednesday. Recently acquired defenseman Mike Weber has been in the lineup for two straight games and likely will stay there with fellow blue-liner Nate Schmidt (lower body) questionable.
OVERTIME
1. Washington RW Daniel Winnik made his debut with his new team Wednesday, recording one shot in 13:09 of ice time.
2. New York D Dan Boyle needs one point to reach 600 in his career.
3. The Capitals lead the league in power-play percentage (23.9) and have gone 5-for-13 over the last four contests.