Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night (7:30 PM ET, TNT) for the second of three meetings between the two teams this season and first of two in a span of eight days. Toronto has won six of the last seven games against Washington (who is 1-5-1 in those contests) dating back to the 2021-22 season, including a 4-1 victory in the nation’s capital on October 24.
Schedule
Toronto: wraps up set of back-to-backs after a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, continue span where they are on the road for six of eight (2-2-1 so far)
Washington: returns from five-game Northwest road trip to begin four-game homestand after stretch where they played on the road for six of seven (5-2-0)
How Each Team Is Doing
Toronto: is 3-3-1 since winning nine of their previous 10 games
Washington: has won three in a row, is 11-5-2 since a season-long six-game losing streak ended
Standings
Toronto: 38-20-9 (.634 points percentage — third in Atlantic Division, fifth in Eastern Conference); nine points behind Florida Panthers (with a game in hand) for second place in division and five ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning (one) for third, so they are likely locked into their seeding for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Washington: 33-25-9 (.560 points percentage — fourth in Metropolitan Division, eighth in Eastern Conference); one point back of Detroit Red Wings (two) for second wild-card spot, five behind Tampa Bay Lightning (one) for the first, three back of Philadelphia (two) for third place in Metropolitan Division; two points ahead of New York Islanders (one), four ahead of Buffalo Sabres (three), five in front of New Jersey Devils (two), six clear of Pittsburgh Penguins (one) in wild-card standings
Team Leaders
Matthews leads the NHL in goals this season and has more tallies than any Capital’s point total. Nylander ranks eighth in the league in points while Matthews’ 84 is 10th. Nylander and Marner’s assists totals are tied for 15th.
Team Statistics
Toronto ranks third in goals, fifth on the power play, and second in faceoff-winning percentage but 24th on the penalty kill. Their goals-against per game is also above the NHL average.
Toronto has the average Corsi-for percentage in the league and is 19th in save percentage but ranks eighth in shooting percentage.
Expected Goalie Matchup
Lindgren bests Woll in every statistical category entering Wednesday’s game.
Injuries/Illnesses
Toronto
- RW Mitch Marner (lower-body)
- D John Klingberg (hip)
- G Matt Murray (hip)
- D Mark Giordano (concussion)
- RW Calle Jarnkrok (hand)
- D Ilya Lybushkin (illness)
- RW Ryan Reaves (eye)
Washington
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
Projected Lines
Toronto
Tyler Bertuzzi — Matthews — Max Domi
Matthew Knies — John Tavares — Nylander
Bobby McMann — David Damf — Nick Robertson
Connor Dewar — Pontus Holmberg — Noah Gregor
Morgan Reilly — T.J. Brodie
Simon Benoit — Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson — Timothy Liljegren
Woll
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched: D Connor Timmins, G Martin Jones
Washington
Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — T.J. Oshie
Ivan Miroshnichenko — Strome — Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Aliaskei Protas
Martin Fehervary — Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: C Michael Sgarbossa, RW Nicolas Aube-Kubel, D Ethan Bear
Betting Odds (BetMGM)
Toronto: -145, Washington: +120
Over-under: 6 (-120 over, +100 over)
By Harrison Brown
