The Washington Capitals (19-12-5) will host the New York Rangers (18-16-4) twice before the end of 2025. The first of those meetings will take place at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
After Tuesday’s game, the Capitals will host the Rangers once again on New Year’s Eve, as the calendar changes to 2026.
Right now, the Capitals are coming off a weekend home-and-home set of back-to-backs with Detroit, where they dropped both games.
The Capitals fell 5-2 at home on Saturday, while the team played slightly better on Sunday, even in a 3-2 OT loss in Detroit.
Ethen Frank scored both of the Capitals’ goals on Sunday, while Dylan Strome helped set him up both times. The funny thing is Frank and Strome weren’t even on the same line based on Spencer Carbery’s latest line changes.
Strome ended a short drought and recorded his first multi-point game since Nov. 20, where Frank also scored twice.
With those two losses against Detroit, the Capitals are now 4-6-2 against Atlantic Division foes this season. Meanwhile, the team is 7-2-2 against fellow Metro foes in 2025-26.
As for the Rangers, they have had a unique start under new head coach Mike Sullivan. The team is 13-6-1 on the road, but 5-10-3 at home at Madison Square Garden.
Both teams previously met at MSG on Oct. 12, where the Capitals escaped with a 1-0 victory and Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
Aliaksei Protas – Justin Sourdif – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Connor McMichael – Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Ivan Miroshnichenko
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Rangers Lines
Forwards
Artemi Panarin – Mika Zibanejad – Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle – Vincent Trocheck – Gabe Perreault
Jonny Brodzinski – Noah Laba – Taylor Raddysh
Brennan Othmann – Sam Carrick – Matt Rempe
Defensemen
Vladislav Gavrikov – Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy – Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson – Scott Morrow
Goalie
Igor Shesterkin
How to Watch
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
Harry Lichtman is an award-winning journalist who covers the Washington Capitals for Sportsnaut. He also contributes to the sites … More about Harry Lichtman