Canucks at Capitals
The Washington Capitals are beginning to warm up offensively and look to keep it flowing when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon. The Capitals have scored 11 goals combined in three straight victories and can extend their point streak to five games while attempting to made up ground in the crowded Metropolitan Division standings.
Marcus Johansson has posted six points and Nicklas Backstrom four in the last four games for Washington, but captain Alex Ovechkin is due after going seven contests without a goal since his last hat trick. The Capitals hope to build off a 2-for-3 effort on the power play Friday in a 4-1 win at Buffalo and beat Vancouver for the fourth straight time — second this season after a 5-2 win in Canada on Oct. 29. The Canucks dropped to 1-2-0 on their five-game road trip after a 4-2 loss at Florida on Saturday and likely will be without No. 1 goalie Ryan Miller (lower-body tightness) for the second straight game. Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin scored for the third time in four games Saturday while extending his point streak to four contests.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (12-14-2): Captain Henrik Sedin notched his sixth point in six games Saturday with an assist and trails his twin brother Daniel (19 points) by one for the team scoring lead. Forward Jack Skille had the other goal against Florida and has recorded all three of his tallies in the last two games while center Bo Horvat (eight goals, eight assists) has gone five games without a point. Jacob Markstrom (6-5-2) made 38 saves in place of Miller on Saturday and was backed up by rookie Thatcher Demko, who would make his NHL debut Sunday if called upon.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (16-7-3): Forward Jakub Vrana notched his first NHL goal in his fifth game with the team Friday and Washington is expecting many more. “He’s more of a pure shooter than a playmaker, for sure, which is OK,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post. “Do what you do best. I mean, (Ovechkin) made a good living doing that, and Jake will do that.” Backstrom leads the team in scoring with 24 points — three better than Johansson and five clear of Ovechkin — while T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist Friday in his second game back from the injured list.
OVERTIME
1. Washington D Matt Niskanen (upper-body) reportedly practiced Saturday, but could miss his second straight contest.
2. Daniel Sedin is three assists shy of 600 in his career and F Loui Eriksson needs three to reach 300 in the same category.
3. Trotz is slated to coach his 1,387th game, passing Mike Keenan for ninth on the NHL’s all-time list.