Capitals at Canadiens
The Washington Capitals put their five-game winning streak on the line when they visit the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens on Monday. Washington is coming off a 1-0 triumph at Ottawa on Saturday and has earned points in eight of nine games (6-1-2) since dropping a 2-1 decision to Montreal at home on Dec. 17.
T.J. Oshie scored the lone goal of the contest versus the Senators, giving him three tallies and two assists over his last five games, but he exited with an upper-body injury suffered on a hit by Ottawa defenseman Dion Phaneuf and is questionable to face the Canadiens. Montreal makes a brief stop at home after concluding a 4-1-2 road trip with three straight victories, including a 5-3 triumph in Toronto on Saturday. The Canadiens, who go back on the road for four of their next six games following Monday's matchup, have been hit hard by injuries of late but received offensive contributions from some replacements against the Maple Leafs. With Alex Galchenyuk (knee) and Brendan Gallagher (hand) among those sidelined for Montreal, Michael McCarron scored his first goal of the season and Nikita Scherbak tallied in his NHL debut to help earn coach Michel Therrien his 400th career victory.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), Sportsnet East, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (25-9-5): Nicklas Backstrom entered the team's record book Saturday, becoming the first player in franchise history to register 500 assists by helping set up Oshie's goal. The 29-year-old also is the 10th Swedish-born player in NHL history to reach the plateau and the second-fastest, accomplishing the feat in 691 games (Peter Forsberg, 551). Braden Holtby has posted a shutout in each of his last two starts and is tied for the league lead with five, which is four shy of his career high from two seasons ago.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (25-9-6): Tomas Plekanec recorded an assist on Saturday for his 570th career point, moving him past Peter Mahovlich for 17th place on the franchise list. The 34-year-old Czech is three points away from overtaking Guy Lapointe for the 16th spot and three goals shy of passing Guy Carbonneau (221) for 19th in that category. Alexander Radulov is riding a six-game point streak during which he has collected four goals and four assists after registering one of each versus Toronto for his team-leading eighth multi-point performance of the season.
OVERTIME
1. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has notched seven points in his last eight games and is four shy of 1,000 for his career.
2. Montreal captain Max Pacioretty has tallied four times during his three-game streak, raising his team-leading goal total to 19.
3. Washington has earned at least one point in seven of its last eight road games (5-1-2).