The Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild go head to head at 7:30 p.m. eastern on Monumental Sports Network, ESPN plus, Hulu, and Disney plus. Needless to say, pick your poison when it comes to viewing this game. Here are the top 3 key Caps players to watch.
#3 Aliaksei Protas
Aliaksei Protas recorded his 35th assist of the season on Tuesday at the Winnipeg Jets to extend his point streak to five games and his assist streak to four games (five assists). Protas ranks second on the Capitals in points with 64 (29 goals and 35 assists) in 71 games this season.
Protas had 53 points with 13 goals and 40 assists in 169 career games prior to this season. He ranks tied for fifth in the NHL in five on five points with 20 goals and 29 assists for 49. That trails only Leon Draisaitl (52), Sidney Crosby (52), Nikita Kucherov (50), and David Pastrnak (50). In additon, Protas leads the NHL in plus/minus with +43.
59 of Protas 64 points this season have come at even strength. 27 of his 29 goals this season have come at even strength while two have come shorthanded.
Protas can become the fourth player in NHL history to reach the 30 goal mark in a season without recording a power play goal and would join Brandon Hagel (2024-25), Doug Smail (1984-85), and Rick Kehoe (1972-73) as the only players to accomplish this feat.
Protas can also become the 12th player in franchise history to score 30 goals in a season at age 24 or younger and the first since Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom in 2009-10.
#2 Pierre-Luc Dubois
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a +4 plus/minus rating on March 22 in a win over the Florida Panthers which matched his single game career high. he is three points shy of establishing a new career high in points, which he accomplished with Winnipeg in 2022-23.
Dubois has 18 goals and 43 assists for 61 points so far this season. He ranks first on the Capitals in primary assists with 27 and second in assists, even strength points (16 goals and 35 assists for 51 points) and plus/minus with +34.
PLD ranks fourth in the NHL in plus/minus and tied for ninth in five on five points with 13 goals and 32 assists for 45 points. He has recorded 19 points in his last 17 games with six goals and 13 assists. 13 of his 18 goals have come in his last 31 games.
#1 Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin has recorded 38 points in 24 career games against Minnesota with 20 goals and 18 assists which is good for 1.58 points per game. That also includes 25 points in 13 games played at Xcel Energy Center with 15 goals and 10 assists.
Ovechkin's 0.83 goals per game and 1.58 points per game against the Wild are the highest rates he has recorded against a single franchise in his career. He has recorded at least one point in 12 of the 13 games he has played in Minnesota dating back to Oct. 12, 2006. The only game in which Ovechkin did not find the scoresheet was last season's visit to the Twin Cities.
Ovi has scored 28 goals in 47 regular season games against Marc-Andre Fleury, the most goals he has scored against a single goaltender in his career. Ovechkin has scored two goals in three career games against Filip Gustavsson.
Ovechkin's 41 career goals in the regular season and playoffs combined against Fleury are the most by a player against a goaltender in the NHL's expansion era since 1967-68.