6:30 p.m. vs. Washington • Capital One Arena • FSN, 100.3-FM
Capitals face hot Wild stinging after giving up 12 goals in two losses
Preview: The Wild has a four-game winning streak, including Thursday's stirring, comeback victory over Nashville. The Capitals hope to bounce back from ugly losses to Nashville and Colorado. Minnesota's penalty kill is 17-for-17 over the past six games, but the Capitals' power play is prolific. "Not too many teams have been able to stop them for the last 10 years," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "The best thing is not to take too many penalties."
Players to watch: As Boudreau said, "Everybody thinks it's just [Alex] Ovechkin. But if you cover him, then you've got [T.J.] Oshie and [Nicklas] Backstrom, [Evgeny] Kuznetsov and [John] Carlson to worry about." The Caps have three Minnesota natives — Oshie (Warroad), D Matt Niskanen (Virginia) and D Aaron Ness (Roseau).
Numbers: Wild F Jason Zucker entered Friday ranked fifth in the NHL with 11 goals and a league-best eight in the third period. … Coach Barry Trotz's Capitals entered Friday ranked 24th in the NHL in goals against average (3.25), compared to sixth for Minnesota (2.61). Capitals goalie Braden Holtby allowed six goals on 25 shots on goal in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to Nashville.
Injuries: Wild F Charlie Coyle (broken fibula) and Zach Parise (back surgery) are out. Capitals F Andre Burakovsky (broken thumb) and Tyler Graovac (upper body) are out and D Christian Djoos (upper body) is questionable.
Joe Christensen
