Washington Capitals (47-24-8, first in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Florida Panthers (35-32-12, fifth in the Atlantic Division)
Sunrise, Florida; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Aleksander Barkov Jr. leads Florida into a matchup against Washington. He currently ranks 10th in the league with 91 points, scoring 34 goals and totaling 57 assists.
The Panthers are 22-19-8 in Eastern Conference games. Florida has surrendered 42 power-play goals, stopping 80.9 percent of opponent chances.
The Capitals are 24-14-2 in road games. Washington has scored 269 goals and ranks third in the Eastern Conference averaging 3.4 goals per game. Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 51. In their last meeting on Feb. 9, Florida won 5-4. Aaron Ekblad recorded a team-high two assists for the Panthers in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mike Hoffman leads the Panthers with 35 goals, adding 34 assists and totaling 69 points. Evgenii Dadonov has totaled 14 points over the last 10 games for Florida.
LAST 10 GAMES: Capitals: 6-3-1, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.4 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game with a .911 save percentage.
Panthers: 5-5-0, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.2 assists, 3.4 penalties and 8.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game with a .887 save percentage.
Panthers Injuries: James Reimer: day to day (lower body).
Capitals Injuries: Michal Kempny: out indefinitely (lower body), Brett Connolly: day to day (illness).
