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Capitals-Bruins Preview

Feb 1, 2010 - 11:32 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Washington (37-12-6) at Boston (23-21-9), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Washington Capitals have taken a comfortable lead in the Eastern Conference by matching the longest winning streak in franchise history.

The team that finished atop the East last season, meanwhile, can't seem to stop losing.

The reeling Boston Bruins stand between the Capitals and a record-setting 11th straight victory, and they'll be trying to snap a seven-game losing streak as the teams meet Tuesday night.

The Capitals (37-12-6) needed a shootout to win 5-4 at Florida in the first game of their streak Jan. 13, then beat their next nine opponents in regulation to extend their Southeast Division lead to more than 20 points.

Washington has also solidified its edge atop the conference and is one point behind San Jose for the NHL lead. The Caps have outscored opponents 47-21 during their run, which matches a club record set from Jan. 27-Feb. 18, 1984.

"Every team wants to come in a make a statement and say 'We're the team that knocked these guys off,'" forward Brooks Laich said, "so we're getting teams' best efforts every single night. We're in special territory right now, and a chance to make history in our next game, so we've got to be prepared."

Alex Ovechkin scored the winner with 6:26 left in a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday, capping a relatively slow offensive night for the league's highest-scoring team. Washington has scored at least three goals in each of the 10 games and easily leads the NHL with 214 goals.

Ovechkin has eight goals and 12 assists during the streak and with 76 points, trails Vancouver's Henrik Sedin by just two for the league lead - even though Ovechkin has played seven fewer games.

"It's kind of fun and it's kind of good," Ovechkin said of the win streak. "But we don't want to stop."

Goaltender Jose Theodore will likely be charged with continuing the run after backup Michal Neuvirth returned to Hershey of the AHL for the Olympic break.

Few goalies have had problems with the Bruins (23-21-9) lately. Boston is the lowest-scoring team in the NHL and totaled eight goals in the last six games.

The Bruins went 0-5-2 in their last seven and 1-8-2 in their previous 11 to fall out of playoff position in the East, a season after they earned the conference's top seed with 116 points.

Boston went nine games without a win from Feb. 15-March 3, 2003, but the team has not lost eight in a row since the 1955-56 season. Still, the Bruins were optimistic after a 3-2 shootout loss to Los Angeles on Saturday, which came 24 hours after a 2-1 defeat at Buffalo.

"Overall, we feel we're turning the corner, heading in the right direction," coach Claude Julien said. "That's two games in a row we've competed better than we had in the past."

Boston is getting healthier, with forwards Marc Savard, Marco Sturm, Steve Begin and Byron Bitz returning over the last two games. Defensemen Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart are out, with Stuart expected to miss a month after surgery on a broken finger suffered against the Kings.

Washington's Mike Green, the league's top-scoring defenseman with 52 points, will not play Tuesday due to a three-game suspension for elbowing Florida's Michael Frolik on Friday.

Washington won 4-1 at Boston on Oct. 1 in the teams' opener, with Laich and Ovechkin each scoring twice against Tim Thomas. The Bruins' No. 1 goalie went 1-3-1 with a 4.11 GAA in his last five starts against the Capitals.