Lightning at Capitals
The Washington Capitals will need more players to get involved in the offense in order to reach their goals this season, and that has yet to be accomplished on a consistent basis. The Capitals have managed three goals in two losses since a six-game winning streak and hope to put together a big performance before the Christmas break when they host the suddenly rejuvenated Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
Captain Alex Ovechkin is on pace for 37 goals after scoring at least 50 each of the last three seasons and Washington entered Thursday ranked 14th in the league in scoring after finishing second in 2015-16. The Lightning have earned points in four of their last five games (3-1-1) despite a rash of injuries and received a three-point performance from the red-hot Jonathan Drouin en route to a 5-2 victory over St. Louis on Thursday. Drouin has collected seven goals and six assists in his last nine games, many of them while playing on a recently constructed line with Brian Boyle and Valtteri Filppula. “There’s some speed, there’s some size and there’s just knowledge of the game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters of the line. “Ever since we put them together, we’ve pointed in four of five, and they’ve been a big part of that.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (17-14-3): What was most impressive about Thursday’s victory was the fact Tampa Bay rallied from a two-goal deficit without five regular forwards due to injuries or illness, including leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (lower body). Forward Michael Bournival, called up earlier in the day, scored the tying goal while playing on a makeshift line with J.T. Brown and converted defenseman Nikita Nesterov in the final two periods. Blue-liner Victor Hedman contributed three assists against St. Louis to push his season total to 29 points – one behind Kucherov.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (19-8-4): There was some good news on offense Wednesday despite suffering a 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia as Lars Eller ended an 18-game goal-scoring drought and Andre Burakovsky notched two points after going without one for seven straight contests. “It was a lot of fun to finally get one,” Burakovsky, who skates with Eller and Jakub Vrana, told reporters. “When I saw the puck go in, I was kind of shocked.” Nicklas Backstrom leads the team with 27 points – four better than Ovechkin and five clear of Marcus Johansson, who has been blanked the last three games.
OVERTIME
1. The Capitals saw their five-game winning streak against the Lightning come to an end with a 2-1 shootout loss at Tampa Bay on Dec. 3.
2. Filppula recorded two assists Thursday and has notched 24 points on the season – 12 more than the center had after 34 games in 2015-16.
3. Washington G Braden Holtby is 7-2-2 with a .911 save percentage in his career against the Lightning.