NHL Game Preview - Vegas at Washington

Sat Nov 9, 2019 7:00 PM EST

The Washington Capitals will try to extend their winning streak to six games when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday evening.

Washington is coming off a 5-4 overtime victory on the road against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Tom Wilson scored 17 seconds into the extra period -- his second goal of the game -- to hand the Caps the victory.

Wilson also came back from a mid-game injury that forced him out for several minutes before he returned later and gave Washington the game-winning goal.

"That's how hockey should work -- when you want to pay the price and you want to play the game the right way and then things can go your way. I'm not surprised at all to see Tom get rewarded like that," Washington coach Todd Reirden said to The Washington Post. "That kind of sums up how I feel like how his season has gone."

The victory gave the Caps 27 points, and that puts them first overall in the NHL. Washington has a 12-2-3 record overall, which is even more impressive since the team has spent much of its time on the road so far.

The victory over Florida made the Caps 8-1-1 in road games in this season. They were 4-0-1 in a recent road trip before last weekend, a big reason Washington keeps finding points.

Also, offense has been a big key for the Caps so far. They come into the Vegas game with 69 goals, which is tops in the NHL, as Washington has a number of players coming up with points throughout the lineup as the Caps lead the Metropolitan Division by four points.

Defenseman John Carlson leads the team with 26 points while starting the season in a big way on offense, and captain Alex Ovechkin is next with 22.

This will be the third game of a four-game road trip for Vegas. The Golden Knights are coming off of a tough 2-1 overtime loss in Toronto on Thursday.

Vegas already has suffered plenty of trouble in overtime this season. The Knights have done well in extra time in the past but went into overtime in three of the last four games -- and lost every time, something the team is aware of and wants to change.

"We've got to clean up the overtime," left winger Max Pacioretty said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It feels like we're not even getting chances, really, or even getting possession of the puck. We have to figure that out, figure out why and really just work at it."

The Knights and Capitals will be doing another rematch of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. Washington won that series 4-1 as the Knights were in just their first year of operation.

This season, Vegas already is in the fight for the top spot of the Pacific Division, tied for third place with 21 points, one behind the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Those two are tied for first place.

The Knights made a few roster moves before the Washington game. They recalled forward Nicolas Roy and defenseman Nicolas Hague from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

--Field Level Media