Florida @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 7, 2019 ) Washington 5, Florida 4

The Washington Capitals look to snap out of a mini-scoring slump and avoid matching a season-high losing streak when they host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. The Capitals, who lead the league in points (37), managed two goals while losing the last two games and have not been quite was dominant at home (6-2-4) as on the road (10-2-1).

“We were scoring at a rate that was kind of unheard of for a while there,” Washington coach Todd Reirden told reporters after the 2-1 shootout loss to Vancouver on Saturday. “This is probably a way of balancing out and averaging it out. I’d like to get some (offense) for sure and up and down our lineup as well.” The Capitals have had trouble in the series of late as the Panthers are 6-1-1 in the last eight games, but Washington pulled out a 5-4 shootout victory Nov. 7 in the first of three meetings in 2019-20. Florida is also looking to avoid a three-game losing streak after being held to two goals in each of two straight losses after winning five of its previous six outings. “We’ve been scoring a lot of goals, so I think it was only a matter of time before we hit a little bit of a rut in the season,” Panthers right wing Brett Connolly told reporters. “It’s not going to be perfect every night. We’ve been getting tested a little bit the last couple games, but it’s a solid group in here.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida, NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (12-7-5): Connolly is leading the way of late with five of his team-high 11 goals in the last five games while defenseman Aaron Ekblad boasts five points (three goals) over the past three contests. Left wing Jonathan Huberdeau tops the club with 30 points and captain Aleksander Barkov boasts 29 after both were held off the scoresheet in two consecutive games. Sergei Bobrovsky (9-5-4, 3.44 goals-against average, .888 save percentage) saw his three-game winning streak come to an end Saturday in a 4-2 loss to Carolina before backup Samuel Montembeault played Sunday.

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (16-4-5): Defenseman John Carlson had one goal and 12 assists during an eight-game point streak before being kept off the scoresheet Saturday while captain Alex Ovechkin (team-high 15 goals) was blanked in the past two contests. Forward Jakub Vrana scored twice in the last three games to move into second on the team with 11 goals and is one point away from 100 for his career. Former Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby (11-2-4, 2.86 GAA, .908 SP) has surrendered two goals or fewer in five of his last six outings and is 11-2-2 in 16 career appearances (15 starts) against Florida.

OVERTIME

1. The Panthers sent G Samuel Montembeault to AHL Springfield on Monday and recalled G Chris Driedger to back up Bobrovsky.

2. Washington C Nicklas Backstrom (18 points) is expected to miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury.

3. Florida RW Evgenii Dadonov, who boasts 10 goals and 20 points this season, needs one assist for 100 in his career.

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Panthers 2