GAME DAY | Canadiens – Capitals: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

• P. K. Subban: “You always look forward to the wins and the good times, but this is where we need accountability and we need character and we need guys to just push forward. It’s not an easy time for anybody, but I think it’s a good thing for our team to go through something like this,”
• Max Pacioretty: “Our situation is more mental than physical, it’s a matter of confidence right now and hopefully this break helps our confidence. Hopefully we come out of it with a fresh mind, feeling a little better about ourselves … Right now with the way we’ve played, especially the last two games, we can’t get negative. We have to stick with it and be positive.  We have to work hard to build our confidence back up. It’ll come back quickly once it does come back, but we have to find a way to do it.”
• Nathan Beaulieu: “As a pro, you’re always supposed to find positives in difficult situations and it hasn’t been easy as of late, playing good hockey and not getting results, we just have to look at the good things we’re doing. We’re staying positive in the dressing room, but hockey is a funny sport and sometimes things don’t go your way. I’m confident we can find positives in this situation and we all believe in each other in this dressing room.”
• The Canadiens are mired in a slump of late as they have lost five games in a row and only have only a single win in their past 10 games. The Capitals on the other hand, only have two losses (one in OT) in their past 15 games and are currently rising a six game winning streak.
• While the Canadiens have a 16-4-3 record versus teams in the Eastern Conference this season, the Capitals boast a 18-4-0 record.
• The Canadiens have dropped down in the goals against category, they are currently 15th in the league in goals against, with 89 in their first 36 games. The Capitals’ defensive game has been very good, as they have allowed only 71 goals against in their first 33 games and are 1st in the league.
• The Canadiens have surprisingly maintained their standing in the goals for category as they are currently in a tie for second place in the NHL, with 105 over their first 36 games. The Canadiens are actually tied with the Capitals for second place in the NHL (along with the Ottawa Senators), as they also have scored 105 times so far this season.

• Top scorers for the Capitals at home this season are:

1. Alex Ovechkin (with 18 points in 16 games).
2. Niklas Backstrom (with 15 points in 14 games)
3. John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov (both with 14 points in 17 games)

• Top scorers for the Canadiens on the road this season are:

1. Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty and P. K. Subban (all with 13 points in 17 games)
2.  Alex Galchenyuk  (with 12 points in 17 games)

Player stats from War-on-Ice, NHL.com and Yahoo Sports.