Washington @ Ottawa preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 7, 2020 ) Ottawa 1, Washington 6

The Washington Capitals own the best record in hockey but they showed they are far from a finished product, failing to protect a third-period lead in Wednesday's 5-4 home loss to Nashville. After having its four-game winning streak halted, Washington vies for its league-leading 20th road victory when it visits the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.

Offense has not been an issue for the Capitals, who have scored 20 goals over the past five games, but coach Todd Reirden was frustrated by a number of mistakes in Wednesday's loss. "We continue to take too many penalties and then we turn pucks over, and they end up in the back of our net," Reirden said. "We're trying to build our game. Like I said, those are the same things we saw before the (All-Star) break." Ottawa won for only the second time in 12 games (2-5-5), following up Monday's 4-3 shootout loss to New Jersey with a 5-2 victory at Buffalo on Tuesday. “We got back to the way we play,” coach D.J. Smith said. “We were physical. We hit people. We forechecked. We tracked back. We had good energy. Everyone played and everyone had good energy.”

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Washington, RDS, TSN5

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (34-12-5): Backup netminder Ilya Samsonov, who has won all six decisions since the Christmas break, will make his second straight against the Senators in just over three weeks. The 22-year-old Russian turned aside 26 of 27 shots in a 6-1 victory over Ottawa on Jan. 7 to improve to 15-2-1 with a 2.06 goals-against average during his stellar rookie campaign. Richard Panik scored twice Wednesday and, along with linemates Lars Eller and Carl Hagelin, has accounted for 18 points in 10 games this month.

ABOUT THE SENATORS (18-23-9): Ottawa had the league's worst power play before converting three times against Buffalo, giving the team a 6-for-11 success rate over the past four games. “It’s a young team, so it’s going to take time to develop and get everyone on the same page and knowing the routes and plays,” said Tyler Ennis, who has scored in consecutive games. "We’ve been getting better as the season has progressed and we’re starting to click.” Jean-Gabriel Pageau set a career high with his 20th goal Tuesday.

OVERTIME

1. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin became the fourth player to reach 35 goals in at least 12 seasons.

2. Senators F Anthony Duclair, the team's leading goal scorer with 21, is mired in a nine-game drought.

3. Capitals F Tom Wilson has goals in three straight and had a pair of assists versus Ottawa in the last meeting.

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Senators 2