Washington @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2019 ) Boston 1, Washington 0

The Boston Bruins snapped a long losing streak in the series in February and look to make it two in a row when they host the Washington Capitals on Saturday in a battle of division leaders. The Capitals had won 14 straight meetings before dropping a 1-0 decision Feb. 3 against Boston, which knocked off Toronto 4-2 on Friday after coughing up a four-goal lead to lose its previous game.

The Bruins received a pair of goals from left wing Brad Marchand in his 700th NHL game and Tuukka Rask turned aside 31 shots in the victory against the Maple Leafs to maintain a three-point lead over Montreal atop the Atlantic Division. Metropolitan Division-leading Washington saw its 13-game point streak (11-0-2) come to an end Friday as Montreal scored the game’s first four goals and cruised home with a 5-2 triumph. John Carlson had an assist along with a minus-2 rating Friday, and leads the league’s defenseman with 31 points while holding a comfortable advantage for the top spot on the team with captain Alex Ovechkin (14 goals, 24 points) next. Ovechkin, who delivered a crushing hit on Montreal’s Jonathan Drouin on Friday that knocked him out of the game for a period of time, has recorded 24 points and 49 points in 48 career games against the Bruins.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Washington, NESN (Boston)

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (14-3-4): Center Evgeny Kuznetsov is warming up with four goals in his last four games and boasts 10 of his 19 points - third on the team - in his past six contests. Center Lars Eller is going through a five-game point drought, but registered four shots in Wednesday’s win over Philadelphia and matched Ovechkin with six in the loss against Montreal while right wing Richard Panik is still seeking his first point with Washington after 11 contests. Braden Holtby (9-1-3), who was rested Friday in the opener of the back-to-back, is expected back in net to try to extend his five-game winning streak.

ABOUT THE BRUINS (12-3-4): Right wing David Pastrnak (16 goals, 31 points) has cooled off with one point in his last four games and Marchand edged ahead of his linemate for the team lead with 32. The duo’s veteran linemate Patrice Bergeron had an assist Friday and boasts six goals to go along with 11 points over the past nine contests while power forward Charlie Coyle scored once and set up another, giving him three assists in the last three games. With Rask between the pipes Friday, Jaroslav Halak is likely to get a chance to extend his point streak to six games (3-0-2).

OVERTIME

1. Carlson, who is among the league leaders with a plus-13 rating, needs two goals for 100 in his career.

2. Boston C David Krejci recorded an assist Friday and owns five of his 10 points in the past four games.

3. The Bruins are third in the league on the power play (29.5 percent) and Washington is eighth (23.9).

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Bruins 3