Game #44: Ducks vs. Capitals Gameday Preview

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Ducks continue their six-game road trip tonight in the District of Columbia against the Washington Capitals. They are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, a bounce-back effort after allowing six goals in both of their previous two games.

The Capitals are coming off a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Jan. 11. They have won seven of their last 12 games and currently own the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Despite missing 16 games with a fractured fibula, Alex Ovechkin has been on a torrid scoring pace and is now just 22 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goalscoring title. Ovechkin scored his first-ever NHL hat trick against the Ducks in 2006 and has 12 goals in 25 career games against them.

Ducks forward Ryan Strome will face his brother, Dylan, for the 11th time in their NHL careers. The older Strome is currently 7-2-1 against his younger brother, although Dylan's team has taken the last three matchups.

“I think you take a step back (to reflect),” Ryan said on whenever he gets to face his brother. “You do this as kids your whole life and you get to do it at the highest levels, it’s pretty unique. You never know how many you’ve got left, you don't wanna take it for granted and I I’ve got a winning record!

For me (against him), just continuing the good things I've done. I think I've got really good habits against him and we've been preaching those things. The Ryan family is up on top, so it's nice to have the lead.”

Troy Terry returns to the Ducks lineup after missing the last four games due to the birth of his second child, Theo, who required extra attention. He will slot in next to Strome on the Ducks’ top line along with Frank Vatrano, a fixture line that head coach Greg Cronin has used for most of the season.

“Hopefully, my two linemates will carry some of the weight for me early on and let me get back into it,” Terry said. “(I don’t want to) try to do too much early (on), just kind of let myself settle into it.”

“(The Capitals) have great special teams,” Cronin said. “They’re built in a a a big, powerful way. They've got big, strong, heavy forwards and defensemen. They make you earn your ice to the inside. They’ve played together for a long time, a lot of these kids from Hershey (in the AHL) all the way up through to the Capitals, so I think there’s a connectivity to the group that's real natural for them. (Lastly), they can score. They’ve got an offensive group.”

Ducks Projected Lineups

Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Alex Killorn - Leo Carlsson - Sam Colangelo
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Robby Fabbri
Jansen Harkins - Isac Lundeström - Brett Leason

Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov - Jacob Trouba
Brian Dumoulin - Drew Helleson

John Gibson (confirmed)

Capitals Projected Lineups

Alex Ovechkin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael - Dylan Strome - Tom Wilson
Taylor Raddysh - Lars Eller - Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime - Nic Dowd - Andrew Mangiapane

Rasmus Sandin - John Carlson
Martin Fehérváry - Matt Roy
Jakob Chrychrun - Trevor van Riesmdyk

Logan Thompson (confirmed)