Washington @ Anaheim preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 2, 2018 ) Anaheim 6, Washington 5

The Washington Capitals look to match one of their better efforts of the season last time out when they continue a six-game road trip Sunday night against the struggling Anaheim Ducks. The Capitals gave up the first goal of the game Thursday before rolling to a 5-1 victory over the red-hot San Jose Sharks as one player reached a milestone and another inched closer to one.

Right wing T.J. Oshie recorded a pair of goals and set up another to reach 500 points in his career while Washington captain Alex Ovechkin moved within one of joining Wayne Gretzky, Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux as the only players in NHL history to post 40 goals in 10 seasons. “It just seemed like from the drop of the puck, guys were excited to play,” Oshie told reporters after Thursday’s win. “Guys were just happy and having fun, and if anyone knows anything about this team, we play our best when we’re having fun.” Anaheim could not build off a 1-0 victory in Bob Murray’s debut as coach, dropping a 3-0 decision against Boston on Friday for an eighth loss in nine games, and remained at nine goals scored in the last nine outings. “We had a lot of chances at the net,” Ducks defenseman Josh Manson told reporters. “But nothing went in. I don’t know if it’s puck luck or finishing our chances, I don’t know what it is. But we’re headed in the right direction.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Washington, Prime Ticket (Anaheim)

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (32-19-7): Ovechkin’s 39 goals lead the league and the 33-year-old has recorded nine of his team-leading 66 points in the last six games while Oshie posted five in the past three contests. Nicklas Backstrom (55 points) is cooling off this month with four assists in eight games and fellow center Evgeny Kuznetsov (54) has been heating up with 16 points in his past 10 contests. Forward Jakub Vrana registered two of his career-best 18 goals in the last three games and goalie Braden Holtby boasts a .926 save percentage in February despite going just 3-2-1.

ABOUT THE DUCKS (22-27-9): Right wing Corey Perry has struggled to gain his footing since returning from knee surgery, managing one point in seven games with a minus-7 rating and 16 shots on net. Captain Ryan Getzlaf tops the team in points (36) and fellow forward Jakob Silfverberg leads Anaheim with 13 goals, but the Ducks are easily last in the league in scoring (2.16 per contest) and 29th on the power play (14.3 percent) entering Saturday. Rickard Rakell, last season’s leading scorer, has just two of his 26 points in the last 10 games and fellow forward Adam Henrique owns just one goal in that span.

OVERTIME

1. With Anaheim’s No. 1 G John Gibson (upper body) out, Kevin Boyle boasts a .955 save percentage in his first three NHL contests.

2. Washington’s John Carlson, who is fourth in the league among defensemen with 50 points, is two away from 300 for his career.

3. Anaheim earned a 6-5 victory at Washington on Dec. 2 and is 3-0-1 in the last four meetings with the Capitals.

PREDICTION: Capitals 5, Ducks 2