Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Washington Capitals (22-20-8, 52 points) and New Jersey Devils (21-19-11, 53 points) faceoff live from the Prudential Center in New Jersey for the second of four meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Washington fans can hear all of the action on WFED 1500 while New Jersey fans can do the same on 101.9 WFAN.
Washington has lost six games in a row and will once again be without their captain while New Jersey has lost two of its last three games and enters this contest as the final tune-up before their Stadium Series game against the rival New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The first time these two teams met, the Devils beat the Capitals 5-4 in overtime on Dec. 21.
The Capitals will be without leading scorer Alex Ovechkin (35-14-49) for the second straight game due to a lower-body injury. Ovechkin was absent for Tuesday's 2-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
"We missed Ovi a little bit [Tuesday], more than I thought we would because we've handled it before," Capitals coach Adam Oates said via NHL.com. "We generated a lot of chances; other guys have got to finish. He can't be the only guy."
Without Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom is the team's leading scorer as he also has 49 points off of 11 goals and 38 assists while Mikhail Grabovski has lit the lamp 12 times and added 21 helpers for 33 points.
The Devils snapped a two-game losing streak in impressive fashion, routing the St. Louis Blues 7-1 on Tuesday in a game where the returning Damien Brunner had a three-point night.
"Maybe it was the hockey gods rewarding me for the hard work put in the last two weeks [to get back on the ice]," Brunner said per NHL.com. "I guess it's a good confidence boost for me."
The Devils have been led offensively by Jaromir Jagr, who has 40 points off of 16 tallies and 20 helpers while Marek Zidlicky (eight goals, 19 assists) and Patrik Elias (seven goals, 20 assists) each have 27 points
Cory Schneider is expected to man the crease for New Jersey, and is 8-9-7 with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage while Braden Holtby is likely to play for Washington between the pipes and is 13-12-2 with a 3.00 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
The Capitals look to avoid a seventh straight loss while the Devils look for a strong showing before their outdoor game when the puck drops tonight at the Prudential Center in New Jersey
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