Eurolanche

Top line focus for Avs visiting Capitals

Season series: The Washington Capitals won two games against the Colorado Avalanche last season, each by one goal, with Alex Ovechkin scoring the winner in each. Goalie Braden Holtby won both. Ovechkin and linemate Nicklas Backstrom tied for the lead in points with three each (Ovechkin had two goals, one assist; Backstrom had one goal, two assists). Tyson Barrie (1-1-2) and Nathan MacKinnon (0-2-2) led the Avalanche.

Avalanche (7-11-1) team scope: Colorado opted not to practice Friday following its 4-3 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. This is the sixth game of its seven-game road trip, which ends against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Forward Gabriel Landeskog returned to the lineup against Pittsburgh after serving a two-game suspension for hitting Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand in a game Nov. 10. Landeskog skated on the left of Matt Duchene and Nathan McKinnon, and that line, which includes three of the Avalanche's top four scorers, combined for 14 of their 31 shots in the game. Coach Patrick Roy was asked if he might split them up to try to spread out the offense. He said no. "That line is playing good hockey for us, and they're going to stay like this," Roy told the Avalanche website. "The other lines, it's their job to find ways to compete, and I will play the line that they play against. I'm not going to spread out the lineup, no way."

Capitals (12-5-1) team scope: Washington has allowed the first goal in each of the past nine games; it is 5-3-1 in those games. The Capitals are 6-4-1 when allowing the first goal, and 6-1-0 when scoring first. Alex Ovechkin’s 484th NHL goal, scored in a 3-2 home loss Thursday to the Dallas Stars, made him the most prolific Russian-born goal-scorer in NHL history, passing former teammate Sergei Fedorov. The goal broke a four-game drought for Ovechkin. Holtby, who watched backup Philipp Grubauer against the Stars, figures to be back in net.

-- by Colin Stephenson for NHL.com --