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Washington Capitals Pregame: Home Sweet Home

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall (9) collides with Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) in the third period on November 30, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall (9) collides with Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) in the third period on November 30, 2018, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Washington Capitals will take on the New Jersey Devils on Friday night at Capital One Arena. After sweeping their three-game road trip, the Capitals return home for a brief two-game stop on Friday and Sunday before big road contests against the Pengins and Lightning.

The Capitals made no changes to their lineup or goaltender from their last game, which makes sense. Washington is coming off a three-game road trip sweep as well as winners of five in a row entering Friday night’s game. This hot stretch has put them in a tie for first place with the Islanders in the Metroopolitan Division after New York’s 4-2 win last night over the Senators.

Braden Holtby once again gets the start in goal. He’s won four in a row and is 8-4-1 since the all-star break. In his last game, Holtby became the second-fastest goaltender in NHL history to win his 250th career game. Holtby achieved the feat in his 409th game, which occured Wednesday night in Philadelphia where Holtby stopped 27 of the 30 Flyers shots he faced.

The Devils sit towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 25-33-9 record with 59 points, eighth place in the Wild Card standings just ahead of the Red Wings by a point. They come into Friday night’s game having dropped four in a row. Ottawa occupies the bottom.

Part of New Jersey’s problem is they’re missing some key guys due to injury. 12 players in all have been injured since Feb. 17 including key guys such as Kyle Palmeiri, Nico Hischier, and Taylor Hall. However, Palmeiri skated this morning and is expected to play tonight as well as John Quenneville and Will Butcher.

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The Devils will go with the rookie Mackenzie Blackwood in goal tonight. Blackwood was drafted in the 2nd round, 42nd overall by the Devils in the 2015 NHL Draft. He currently carries a 6-6-2 record in 15 games with a 2.25 GAA and a .931 save percentage. The Devils plan to go with starter Cory Scheneider on Saturday at the Rangers.

The Devils stormed out to a 4-0 start to the season before the struggles began. That four-game stretch included a 6-0 thrashing of the Capitals in Newark on Oct. 11 in their second game of the season. The Capitals won the most recent meeting on Nov. 30 6-3.

Player Matchup:

Alex Ovechkin vs. Kyle Palmeiri 

Alex Ovechkin scored the other night in Philadelphia for his 46th goal of the season, leading the NHL, as well as an assist. The assist came to Tom Wilson‘s goal with a pass from Ovechkin’s knees as seen in the video above.  According to the game notes, he’s one point shy of becoming the 48th player in NHL history to record 1,200 career points (653 goals, 546 asssits). Whether that historic point comes in the form of a goal or an assist, Ovechkin‘s 653 or 654 goals would be the second-most goals in NHL history by a player at the time of their 1,200th point, trailing only Brett Hull (656 goals). Ovechkin has earned 57 points in 51 career games against the Devils (25 goals, 32 assists).

Kyle Palmeiri suffered a lower body injury on Feb. 27 but is expected to play tonight. He will be on the top line. Palmeiri is the Devils leading scorer with 26 goals on the season. He also has the most points with 48.

Next. The Capitals lineup for tonight's game. dark

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Washington.

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