Edmonton Oilers (29-14-3) at Washington Capitals (31-10-5)
TV: Sportsnet West. Radio: 880 CHED.
TIME: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Odds: Capitals +114, Oilers -137
THE SETUP
The Oilers saw a four-game road trip come to an end in a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks that also has them without their captain for the next three games. Connor McDavid was suspended three games for crosschecking Conor Garland in the dying seconds. Apparently, it wasn’t over who spells it correctly. Despite the loss, the Oilers have a chance to move into sole possession of first place past the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division. But in order to do so, they will have to come out on top against a Capitals squad that sits first in the Metropolitan Division.
CONNOR, WHO?
Leon Draisaitl leads the league in goals (33), plus-minus (+28), even-strength goals (25), overtime goals (four) and game-winning goals (nine). He sits second overall with 69 points in 46 games. Meanwhile, Alexander Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 21 goals despite playing just 30 games and sitting out for 40 days with a broken leg. The NHL’s active all-time goals leader sits 20 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894, and is on pace to score 25 more this season.
THE QUOTE
“It’s incredible what he’s been able to do. He had a short period of time where you’re thinking his career is kind of on the tail end. It wasn’t a very long stretch and he silenced that in a hurry.”
• Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch on Ovechkin
THE LINEUPS
WASHINGTON
Forwards
Ovechkin – Strome – McMichael
Protas – Duboise – Wilson
Raddysh – Eller – Frank
Duhaime – Dowd – Mangiapane
Defence
Sandin – Carlson
Chychrun – Van Riemsdyk
Fehervary – Roy
Goalies
Thompson
Lindgren
EDMONTON
Forwards
Kapanen – Nugent-Hopkins – Hyman
Podkolzin – Leon Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Janmark – Henrique – Brown
Skinner – Philp – Perry
Defence
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Goalies
Skinner
Pickard
INJURIES
CAPITALS: None
OILERS: None
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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