Tampa Bay faces Washington for conference matchup
Tampa Bay Lightning (43-19-7, third in the Atlantic) vs. Washington Capitals (37-22-10, fourth in the Metropolitan)
Washington; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Washington takes on Tampa Bay in Eastern Conference play.
The Capitals are 24-12-4 in Eastern Conference games. Washington has scored 221 goals and ranks sixth in the Eastern Conference averaging 3.2 goals per game. Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 42.
The Lightning are 12-7-2 against opponents from the Atlantic. Tampa Bay is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 30.6 shots per game and is averaging 3.3 goals.
In their last matchup on Nov. 1, Tampa Bay won 3-2. Anthony Cirelli recorded a team-high 2 points for the Lightning.
TOP PERFORMERS: Evgeny Kuznetsov leads the Capitals with 44 assists and has 66 points this season. Ovechkin has 9 points over the last 10 games for Washington.
Steven Stamkos has 78 total points while scoring 32 goals and totaling 46 assists for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov has three goals and 11 assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
LAST 10 GAMES: Capitals: 6-4-0, averaging three goals, 4.2 assists, 4.2 penalties and nine penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game with an .882 save percentage.
Lightning: 5-4-1, averaging three goals, 5.2 assists, 4.8 penalties and 11.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .912 save percentage.
INJURIES: Capitals: None listed.
Lightning: Ryan McDonagh: out (upper-body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.