Blue Jackets at Capitals
With all but a Presidents' Trophy left on their "to-do list" for the regular season, the Washington Capitals look to ignite their sputtering offense when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Washington, which has already clinched the top seed in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference, needs to record a point against Columbus to secure the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy since 2009-10.
The Capitals will need to make some sort of dent to accomplish their goal, although the team emerged victorious with a 1-0 overtime triumph in New Jersey on Friday before going limp in a 4-0 setback to St. Louis the following night. "We haven't scored a 5-on-5 goal in the last two games," coach Barry Trotz told Monumental Sports Network. "We need to bury our chances." While Washington was blanked by the Blues, the Blue Jackets were "totally overwhelmed" in the words of coach John Tortorella in a 5-1 drubbing by Nashville on Saturday to begin their four-game road trip. Columbus is singing the same sad tune in terms of a struggling offense, as the club has mustered just six goals during a 1-3-0 stretch.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), CSN DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (30-37-8): Brandon Saad, who notched an assist for the third straight game on Saturday, scored twice in Columbus' 5-4 shootout win over Washington on Jan. 2. The 23-year-old has recorded seven points (five goals, two assists) in six career meetings with the Capitals. Boone Jenner, who netted his team-leading 28th goal on Saturday and fourth in five outings, also tallied in the last encounter with Washington on Jan. 19.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (53-16-5): Evgeny Kuznetsov looks to snap a season-high four-game point drought on Monday versus Columbus, against which he scored and set up a goal on Jan. 2 before notching a career-high four assists in a 6-3 triumph on Jan. 19. Fellow Russian countryman Alex Ovechkin has traditionally blitzed the Blue Jackets with 13 goals in 20 career contests - including one in the last encounter while Nicklas Backstrom netted two in that game. Both stars have struggled of late, as Ovechkin has been limited to just one tally in his last five and Backstrom has a goal and an assist in his last six.
OVERTIME
1. Washington G Braden Holtby has yielded nine goals in his last five contests (4-1-0) and has made all three starts against Columbus this season to improve to 7-2-2 versus the club in his career.
2. The Blue Jackets are 0-for-11 on the power play in the last four games.
3. Washington is 1-for-14 with the man advantage in the last six contests overall, but 4-for-8 in its last two encounters with Columbus.