Washington Capitals at Florida Panthers

1. In their first game without Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals lost, 3-2, to the Devils on Wednesday and have now dropped three straight overall (1-0-2 record). Ovechkin is expected to miss a couple weeks with an upper-body injury.
2. Florida beat Carolina, 3-0, on Wednesday and has now won three straight -- the last two by shutout.
3. This marks the first meeting of the season between the Caps and Panthers. The two clubs split six games in 2008-09 and none of those contests were decided by fewer than two goals.
4. Tomas Vokoun has not given up a goal since Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu scored on him at 17:51 of the second period on Oct. 28 - a span of 142:09 minutes played and 74 shots on goal.
5. Mathieu Perreault, the Capitals' sixth-round choice in the 2006 draft, recorded two assists Thursday night his NHL debut - the first Capital to record a multi-point game in his NHL debut since Alex Ovechkin on Oct. 5, 2005.
6. Linemates Steve Reinprecht (4g, 2a), Nathan Horton (1g, 4a) and Cory Stillman (2g, 2a) have combined for 15 points in the Panthers' last three skates.