Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin is used to finding the back of the net. As one of the game’s best pure goal scorers, Ovechkin has put up some big totals against teams for his entire career.
Against the Bruins, though, Ovechkin goal totals aren’t necessarily what they are against the rest of the league. Ovechkin and his Capitals will be in Boston on Saturday afternoon to take on the Bruins at TD Garden. When the puck drops, Ovechkin will be looking for his first goal against the Bruins in seven games.
For his career, the Russian forward has 12 goals and 20 assists in 30 regular season games, with two of those coming on the power play. But the Bruins have tightened things up against Ovechkin as of late, which is always one of the biggest keys to beating the Caps.
The Bruins have to deal with more than just Ovechkin, though. Washington boasts a top-10 offense in terms of goals per game, as the Capitals are averaging 2.8 goals per contest. That’s thanks in large part to the NHL’s second-ranked power play, as they come in boasting a 22.4 percent success rate.
The Caps will be shorthanded on Saturday, though. Forward Mikhail Grabovski re-aggravated an ankle injury and won’t play against the Bruins on Saturday.
Boston is expected to start Tuukka Rask in net. Rask is looking for his first career win against Washington. He’s 0-2-3 for his career against Washington with a .883 save percentage and a 3.42 goals against average.
The projected forward lines and defensive pairings for the first Bruins-Capitals matchup of the season can be found below.
Bruins (37-16-5, 79 points)
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly — Carl Soderberg — Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara — Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski — Johnny Boychuk
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller
Capitals (28-23-9, 65 points)
Brooks Laich — Nicklas Backstrom — Alex Ovechkin
Martin Erat — Marcus Johansson — Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera — Eric Fehr — Joel Ward
Aaron Volpatti — Jay Beagle — Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner — John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov — Mike Green
John Erskine — Connor Carrick
