Maple Leafs-Washington Capitals: Saturday game preview

VERIZON CENTER

Puck Drop: 7 p.m. TV: CBC Radio: TSN Radio 1050 Toronto

Key matchup: Alexander Ovechkin vs. whoever is in net. The Leafs’ James Reimer started Friday’s home game against Detroit and was a strong bet to start in Washington. Reimer is 2-4-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .920 save percentage against Washington in his career. For his part, Ovechkin has scored 30 goals in 36 career games against the Leafs — the fourth-most goals he’s scored against any single team.

Sizzling start: Washington has matched the best start in franchise history. The Caps defeated the Bruins on Thursday to improve to 9-3-0, matching the same mark they have hit twice before, in 1991-92 and 201112.

Making his mark: Capitals defenceman John Carlson is getting noticed by analytics experts, some of whom say he’s the most underrated player in the Eastern Conference. Carlson bagged a goal and an assist Thursday to mark his fourth multi-point game of the season and 36th of his career. Carlson also is tied for fifth in the NHL with six powerplay points, is second among defencemen in points per game (2.48), and fourth among defencemen in points, with 12.

Slumping: The Capitals will need forward Niklas Backstrom to step up his game, especially on the powerplay, which broke an 0-10 slump against Boston. Washington’s powerplay has been ranked near the top of the NHL for several seasons now, but Backstrom has not scored a goal in his past five games.

Up next: Tuesday, at the Dallas Stars, 8:30 p.m. Mark Zwolinski