The Washington Capitals (25-22-7) finish their six-game, 12-day road trip on Thursday night. They will visit the Detroit Red Wings (32-17-5) at Little Caesars Arena.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Capitals have not prospered well on this trip, going 1-4-1 in their first five games. The previous game on Tuesday was a real stinker though.
The Capitals visited Seattle and did not play well throughout the night, falling 5-1. The loss came after the team earned three of four possible points against Calgary and Edmonton.
Despite a scoreless first period, Seattle struck thrice in the second, and twice more in the third to seal it. The lone Capitals goal came in the final period from Alex Ovechkin, as he reached 919 on his career.
The Capitals have been struggling hard over the last several weeks. The team has looked inconsistent and failed to compete all 60 minutes of most recent games.
The Capitals have five games remaining in eight nights between Thursday and the Olympic break. After Detroit, the team will face three Metropolitan Division rivals Carolina, the Islanders, and Philadelphia.
This last week of games will determine if the Capitals are buyers or sellers at the NHL trade deadline. There have been rumors that the team could pursue Artemi Panarin of the Rangers.
Meanwhile, Detroit has fared much better than the Capitals over the past two months, going 19-6-3 since December began. Both teams already met twice in that span, with the Red Wings taking both games.
Detroit is vying for its first playoff berth since the 2015-16 season a decade ago. The team is currently a point behind Tampa Bay for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Connor McMichael – Dylan Strome – Ryan Leonard
Aliaksei Protas – Justin Sourdif – Tom Wilson
Alex Ovechkin – Nic Dowd – Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime – Hendrix Lapierre – Anthony Beauvillier
Defensemen
Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Declan Chisholm – Dylan McIlrath
Goalies
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Expected Red Wings
Forwards
Marco Kasper – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DaBrincat – Andrew Copp – Patrick Kane
James van Riemsdyk – J.T. Compher – Emmitt Finnie
Elmer Soderblom – Michael Rasmussen – Mason Appleton
Defensemen
Jacob Bernard-Docker – Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot – Axel Sandin-Pelikka
Albert Johansson – Travis Hamonic
Goalies
John Gibson
Cam Talbot
How to Watch
TV: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
