Capitals at Senators
The Ottawa Senators continue to find ways to register points and will look to gain at least one for the fifth straight game and seventh time in eight contests on Tuesday as they host the Washington Capitals, who are riding a 14-game point streak (12-0-2). The Senators scored late in regulation Saturday and beat Toronto in a shootout before dropping a wild 7-6 overtime decision to Columbus a day later.
“I don’t want to forget about it,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher told reporters of Sunday's sloppy contest. “We just got a big point against a huge opponent on back-to-back (nights) in a tough week.” The Senators must put their hard hats on again against the Capitals, who rolled over Carolina 6-1 on Monday as Nicklas Backstrom and captain Alex Ovechkin each notched an assist to extend their point streaks to 10 and eight games, respectively. Andre Burakovsky also remained hot, hitting the scoresheet for the sixth straight contest by setting up three goals. Braden Holtby, who earned his 23rd win of the season Monday to improve his save percentage this month to .935, stopped 53 of the 54 shots he faced in a pair of wins over Ottawa earlier this month.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic Plus (Washington), TSN5, RDS2 (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (32-9-6): Washington struggled offensively early in the season, but the floodgates have opened over the last eight games as it has scored 44 goals and gone 9-for-18 on the power play. While Backstrom and Ovechkin have led the way, Evgeny Kuznetsov has collected 16 points in his last 11 games while T.J. Oshie has recorded eight goals in his last 12 contests. Jay Beagle did not record a point Monday after scoring in each of the previous two games, but the faceoff specialist already has matched his career highs with 10 goals and 20 points.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (25-15-5): Defenseman Erik Karlsson brings a six-game point streak (seven assists) into Tuesday's contest and leads the team with 39 points overall – four better than Mark Stone, who is one assist away from 100 for his career. Mike Hoffman continued his sizzling stretch on Sunday, scoring two goals to bring his total to seven over the last seven games and 17 overall to tie for the team lead with Kyle Turris, who has notched nine points in as many contests this month. Mike Condon has played a big part during a 5-1-1 run by the Senators but surrendered seven goals on Sunday and could need rest.
OVERTIME
1. Washington C Lars Eller has scored four of his seven goals on the season in the last seven contests, including one on Monday.
2. Ottawa C Zack Smith, who has recorded 11 goals this season, signed a four-year contract extension on Monday.
3. Washington D John Carlson (lower body) has begun skating but is not likely to return to the lineup until after the All-Star break.