Washington Capitals (17-6-2) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (16-7-2)
When: Friday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena
TV: TSN4 Radio: The Fan 590
Odds: Capitals +118, Maple Leafs -147
The buzz
It’s a matchup of the NHL’s highest scoring team and one of the stingiest: The Capitals average an NHL-best 4.08 goals a game and the Maple Leafs give up an average of 2.52 goals, the second-fewest in the league … Sincelosing in overtime to the Leafs on Nov. 13 in Washington on a goal by John Tavares, the Capitals are 7-2-1 in 10 games … If you had tickets for tonight and were hoping to see Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin, you should get another chance in the coming weeks. He’s nursing a broken leg now, but stands a shot of being in the lineup on Dec. 28, when the Caps are back in Toronto. With 868 goals, Ovechkin is 27 shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 … Washington has won seven consecutive road games … The Capitals and Seattle Kraken are the only two NHL teams that didn’t have a player named to any of the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters. “Disappointing to see that,” Caps coach Spencer Carbery said on Thursday. “I thought we had several players who had strong cases to be part of the tournament and represent their country. We’re sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference standings and to not have one guy there is a little odd to me.” One such player is Mississauga native Dylan Strome, who prior to games on Thursday was 10th in NHL scoring with 34 points in 25 games … Since the Leafs were shut out on Nov. 12 by Ottawa, Mitch Marner has 16 points, tying him with Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the most in the NHL in that span.
The quote
“They’re sick. They’ve been been doing it for so long now, and they find each other, right? They love playing with each other. You got the elite playmaker and the elite goalscorer, it’s pretty textbook.”
— Fraser Minten on the chemistry between Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner
The poll
Which Maple Leafs youngster/prospect do you think will wind up having the best NHL career?
The projected Leafs lineup
Forwards
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Fraser Minten-John Tavares-William Nylander
Nick Robertson-Pontus Holmberg-Steven Lorentz
Nikita Grebenkin-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Defence
Oliver Ekman-Larsson—Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers
Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins
Goal
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
The injuries
WASH: LW Alex Ovechkin (leg), F T.J. Oshie (back), F Sonny Milano (upper body).
TOR: F Max Pacioretty (lower body), F Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), D Dakota Mermis (jaw), D Jani Hakanpaa (knee), C David Kampf (lower body), LW Bobby McMann (lower body), C Max Domi (lower body), D Jake McCabe (head).
The prediction
As good as the Caps have been on the road, the Leafs have been better at home. Toronto adds to its NHL-best 12 home wins with a 4-2 victory.
X: @koshtorontosun