Washington Capitals (25-21-8, sixth in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (30-22-5, fourth in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals visit the Tampa Bay Lightning after Connor McMichael scored two goals in the Capitals' 6-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.
Tampa Bay has gone 18-7-3 in home games and 30-22-5 overall. The Lightning are third in NHL play serving 11.6 penalty minutes per game.
Washington has a 25-21-8 record overall and an 11-12-3 record on the road. The Capitals have an 11-2-4 record in games decided by one goal.
The teams meet Thursday for the second time this season. The Lightning won the previous matchup 2-1 in a shootout.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov has 36 goals and 58 assists for the Lightning. Brandon Hagel has scored seven goals and added eight assists over the past 10 games.
Alexander Ovechkin has scored 16 goals with 25 assists for the Capitals. Anthony Mantha has five goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 5.9 assists, 4.5 penalties and 16.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.7 goals per game.
Capitals: 3-5-2, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.7 assists, 3.3 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Lightning: Tanner Jeannot: day to day (lower body), Mikhail Sergachev: out (lower body).
Capitals: Nic Dowd: day to day (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom: out (hip), Martin Fehervary: out (lower-body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
