The Vancouver Canucks (18-12-9) face Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (26-10-4) at Capital One Arena. 
The Caps are tied for top spot in the Eastern Conference and third in the overall National Hockey League standings.

What we know

The Canucks held a sparsely attended optional skate in DC this morning. Kevin Lankinen will make his third straight start in goal. He stopped 24 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss in Montreal on Monday. Lankinen was a winner in relief of Thatcher Demko on January 2nd in Seattle. His last win as a starter came on December 12th in a 4-0 shutout of Florida.
According to Rick Tocchet, both Elias Pettersson and Derek Forbort are game-time decisions. Pettersson has missed five games with an undisclosed injury. He remains on injured reserve at the moment and would need to be activated in order to suit up tonight. Forbort left Monday’s game in the second period with an apparent leg injury but returned for the third period and finished the game.
JT Miller had his biggest offensive night of the season on Monday with two goals and a pair of assists. The goals were the first for Miller since November 16th. It was his first multi-goal game since a hat trick in Minnesota last February.
Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup after missing four games with a hand injury and picked up a pair of assists as he logged a team-high 26:15 of ice time.
Rookie winger Jonathan Lekkerimäki had his first multi-point game in the NHL with a goal and an assist. The points came 20 seconds apart early in the second period. He now has two goals and a helper in six big league games.
NHL hit leader Kiefer Sherwood registered his fifth double-digit hit night of the season, recording 10 against the Habs. He now has a total of 230 hits on the season and leads the NHL by 66.
The Canucks penalty kill surrendered a pair of power play goals for the first time since a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay on December 8th – a span of a dozen games. The penalty kill sits at 80.2% for the season and ranks 15th in the NHL.
With Calgary’s overtime win in Anaheim last night, the Canucks and Flames are tied with 45 points. The Canucks retained the second Wild Card spot by virtue of points percentage. To save Kearnsie from posting in the comments, the Canucks are on pace for 95 points.

The opponent

The Capitals, who reach the midway mark of their schedule tonight, are back home after a 4-3 shootout loss in Buffalo on Monday. Tom Wilson scored a pair of goals and Aliaksei Protas had the other. Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves in goal. Interestingly, the Caps used a pair of defencemen – Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson – among their four shootout shooters. Neither was able to convert. Alex Ovechkin did not shoot in the shootout.
Washington is the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 3.70 goals per game. The Caps have seven double-digit goal scorers and six players with 30 or more points on the season. They are led in scoring by Dylan Strome, who has 45 points. He is followed by Protas with 35 and Wilson with 32.
Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 19 goals and is now 22 shy of catching Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goal-scoring record. The Great 8 has four goals in six games since missing 16 games with a broken leg. His next goal will give him 20 consecutive 20-goal seasons. In 26 career games against Vancouver, Ovechkin has scored 16 goals and added 11 assists..
In addition to all sorts of firepower up front, the Capitals have five defencemen with double-digit point totals, led by Chychrun with 28 points and Carlson with 26. Only Colorado has more offensive contributions this season from its defence corps. The Caps are one of only four teams in the league with 100+ points from their bluelines this season.
The Capitals have alternated goaltending duties for the past 26 games since mid-November. That pattern is expected to hold, and the Canucks will see Logan Thompson between the pipes tonight. Over his last 16 starts, Thompson has a record of 12-2-2 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .925% save percentage. Thompson has allowed two or fewer goals against in 12 of his 16 starts since November 2nd.
Washington is 13-4-3 on home ice this season and is 6-0-2 in its last eight at home. Overall, though, the Caps are 5-4-2 in their last 11 games dating back to the middle of December. They have not won back-to-back games since Christmas.
These teams will meet again in Vancouver on January 25th. Last season, the Canucks and Capitals split their two games, with each winning in the other team’s building. The Canucks prevailed 3-2 in overtime on JT Miller’s game-winner, while the Caps posted a 2-1 victory.
Tonight’s referees: Jean Hebert & Corey Syvret
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on Elias Pettersson’s status: “It’s a game time (decision). At this point with players, it’s how he feels. You get the doctors and people, but it’s up to the player to see if he’s comfortable. I think that’s where we’re at.”
Tocchet on what he admires about the Capitals: “The one constant with Washington is they play to their identity every night. They’re a bigger team. They have their D hanging around the net a lot. They block a lot of shots. Anything down low, they squash plays. There isn’t a lot of time and space. They play to their identity and they’ve done a good job of acquiring players that play to their identity.”
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