Capitals at Ducks
The NHL's best team meets the league's hottest when the Washington Capitals visit the Anaheim Ducks on Monday in what could be a Stanley Cup Finals preview. Anaheim moved into first place in the Pacific Division with a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday for its franchise-record 11th straight victory while Washington became the first club to reach 100 points with a 2-1 overtime win in Boston on Saturday and has a 13-point lead for the Presidents' Trophy.
"That’s the position we want to be in," the Ducks' Rickard Rakell told reporters after Anaheim improved to 18-1-1 in its last 20 games and 25-4-2 since Christmas. "We’re not satisfied. We want to keep the momentum going. The team is coming together. We have four lines that play solid hockey. It must be tough to match up against us." Washington hits the road for a three-game trip through California after going 3-1-0 in a four-game stretch in five days. “We believe that we have enough depth that we can play at a high pace, high compete level for the majority of the game, no matter the schedule I think,” Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said after scoring in overtime Saturday. The key to victory Monday could be to avoid the penalty box as Anaheim (No. 1 power play through Saturday) is an eye-popping 19-for-42 with a man advantage while scoring at least one in each game of its streak while Washington (No. 2) is 6-for-18 in its last six.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, CSN DC (Washington), Prime Ticket and FSN San Diego (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (48-13-4): Washington boasts eight players with at least 13 goals with captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL-best 41) at the top and Evgeny Kuznetsov (team-high 66 points) next with 20. Ovechkin was given a five-minute major for boarding Boston's Kevan Miller on Saturday - a hit which sent the defenseman to the hospital with an upper-body injury, but there was no immediate word on whether Ovechkin would face a suspension. Goaltender Braden Holtby (40-8-3) is expected to resume what will likely be a Vezina Trophy-winning season after Philipp Grubauer gave him a spell with a 33-save performance Saturday.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (37-19-8): Anaheim has outscored the opposition 41-21 during its winning streak and it's offensive depth is starting to blossom. Corey Perry has a team-leading 28 goals while Rakell (17), Ryan Kesler (14) and David Perron (12) are the others with more than 10, but seven Ducks have between seven and nine tallies. Perron has been a major factor since being acquired from Pittsburgh in January with eight goals and 10 assists in 21 games since joining Anaheim while thriving on a line centered by captain Ryan Getzlaf (team bests of 42 assists and 51 points).
OVERTIME
1. The Ducks allow the fewest goals per game in the NHL along with Los Angeles at 2.28 with Washington third at 2.29.
2. The Capitals have won five straight in Anaheim since a 3-0 loss to the then-Mighty Ducks on Dec. 11, 2002.
3. This is the first meeting of the two-game season series because the Jan. 22 contest in Washington was postponed to April 10 because of snow.