Washington @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 9, 2019 ) Vegas 2, Washington 5

Alex Ovechkin has adopted an optimistic view of his season-high, four-game goal drought, one that has prevented the Washington Capitals superstar captain from inching closer to becoming the eighth member of the NHL's 700-goal club. Ovechkin will look to take that positive attitude into Monday's road game versus the Vegas Golden Knights.

"Of course, you want to get it over with and move forward, but ... if you didn't score, you just move it forward," Ovechkin said after he remained stuck on 698 career goals following Washington's 3-1 setback at Arizona on Saturday. "You can't be focusing and thinking like, 'Oh, I didn't score. It's over.' Sooner or later it will come." Ovechkin has scored 23 of his team-leading 40 goals on the road this season and 24 in his career versus Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury, which is tied with Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers for his most tallies against a specific goaltender. Fleury, however, is riding the momentum of turning aside all 19 shots he faced for his 60th career shutout in the Golden Knights' 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday. "I think it's just the will. Things are coming down pretty tight in the standings and guys are really stepping up and just getting in lanes. Then (Fleury) has been playing great back there and that's always nice to have," defenseman Shea Theodore told reporters after Vegas improved to 5-2-1 in its last eight games.

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network, NBCS Washington, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, Sportsnet

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (37-16-5): Carl Hagelin scored Washington's lone goal on Saturday to mark his ninth point (four goals, five assists) in his last 11 games. Nicklas Backstrom, who saw his four-game point streak (one goal, four assists) halted on Saturday, scored twice in Washington's 5-2 victory versus Vegas on Nov. 9. Evgeny Kuznetsov collected a goal and an assist in that contest, however he has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (30-22-8): Reilly Smith, who scored in the first meeting with the Capitals, recorded the lone goal on Saturday to move within three of his career high of 25, which was set in 2015-16 with Florida. Max Pacioretty leads the team with 26 goals, including five in his last five games. Pacioretty also tallied in the first encounter with Washington, marking his sixth in 30 regular-season games versus the club.

OVERTIME

1. Vegas RW Mark Stone, who leads the team in assists (37) and points (57), has seven and nine, respectively, over his last five games.

2. Washington, which has split its first two contests on a three-game trek, sports an NHL-best 21-7-1 road record.

3. Golden Knights F Jonathan Marchessault has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his last 10 games.

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Golden Knights 2