Ducks at Capitals
The Washington Capitals try to extend their winning streak to six games and vie for their 12th straight victory at home Saturday when they host the Anaheim Ducks. The Capitals, who are 18-2-1 in their last 21 games after Thursday's 6-3 victory over Detroit, lead the Metropolitan Division by eight points over Pittsburgh and own the NHL's best record as they try for their second straight Presidents' Trophy.
"There's certain buildings that are tough buildings to come into and we've tried to make the Verizon Center very tough to come into," Capitals coach Barry Trotz told reporters. "Hopefully, that can continue." Washington dominates at both ends as it is one of six teams averaging more than three goals while owning the league's stingiest defense at 2.05 goals allowed per game. Anaheim snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over Buffalo on Thursday, highlighted by Corey Perry's first multi-goal contest of the season, and sits two points behind first-place San Jose in the Pacific. "If the team's winning, I don't care. If we're struggling, then … it falls on the leaders' shoulders,'' Perry, who scored only 11 of his 341 career goals this season, told reporters. "That's when you have to step up and prove to everybody that you are a leader on this team and you're not going to accept what's going on. … This road trip wasn't kind to us so far and hopefully it gets us on the right foot."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Anaheim), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (29-17-10): Rickard Rakell's breakthrough season continued Thursday when he scored his team-leading 22nd goal on a nifty feed from Perry as the 23-year-old Swede thrives on the top line centered by captain Ryan Getzlaf (eight goals, club-high 31 assists). Ryan Kesler (18 goals, club-most 41 points) recorded three assists in the last three games and centers a line featuring Jakob Silfverberg (16, 34) and Andrew Cogliano (11, 24) that is a combined plus-34. Defenseman Sami Vatanen (knee) missed the last three games and is questionable to play Saturday.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (38-11-6): Brett Connolly scored in the last three games and in four of his past five with three assists during that span, giving him a career-high 12 goals. Alex Ovechkin (team-high 26 goals) didn't record a shot Thursday, ending a streak of 315 games with at least one. Andre Burakovsky (11 goals, 29 points) left Thursday's game with a hand injury and Trotz said the Austrian forward will be out until at least mid-March.
OVERTIME
1. Washington scored five or more goals in its last 10 home games and is one shy of the NHL record for such a streak set by the 1970-71 Boston Bruins.
2. Anaheim lost its last five games after allowing two goals or fewer in the previous contest.
3. The Ducks prevailed 2-0 at the Verizon Center in the last meeting April 10 to halt a four-game slide (0-2-2) in the series.