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The Washington Capitals have a tall task in their bid for their fifth consecutive home victory when they entertain the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Washington, which plays four of its next five games at Capital One Arena, sports a sterling 12-4-2 record at home this season.

The Wild, in turn, boast the NHL’s best road record at 13-3-3. They have won three of their last four games overall following a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

As for the Capitals, they recorded their fourth win in their last six games with a 3-1 triumph over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

“There’s going to be points throughout the year where you’re grinding,” said Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who scored a goal to boost his point total to 17 (six goals, 11 assists) in his last 17 games.

“It’s just finding ways of picking each other up if we don’t have our best stuff. We’ve got guys in here who have won and played a long time in this league. You lean on those guys in those moments, and this group is always sticking together and pulling in the same direction, and I think you see it. It’s evident that the boys love each other in this room.”

Aliaksei Protas scored two goals and Logan Thompson made 26 saves to improve to 15-2-2 on the season.

Washington superstar captain Alex Ovechkin saw his goal-scoring streak halted at four games — a run that bookended a pronounced absence due to a broken left leg. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient’s 870 career goals are 25 shy of breaking Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Ovechkin has totaled 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 23 career games against the Wild.

While Ovechkin has enjoyed personal success versus Minnesota, the Wild are 5-0-1 in their last six meetings against the Capitals.

Minnesota’s Marco Rossi collected two goals and an assist and Mats Zuccarello and defenseman Jonas Brodin had one of each on Tuesday for Minnesota, which went 3-for-6 on the power play.

“Yeah, I thought it was a really good effort,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “When it comes down to it, both special teams were really good, goaltending was excellent, and … the competitive nature of our team (on Tuesday) was at the level you need to win consistently. So, I really give the guys a lot of credit. (They) dug in and found a way to win.”

Kirill Kaprizov, who leads the team in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50), reportedly is nursing a lower-body injury and went on injured reserve on Wednesday.

Captain Jared Spurgeon, a defenseman, is expected to have an MRI after being on the receiving end of a slew-foot when Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux took Spurgeon’s legs out from under him and sent him into the boards.

Minnesota reportedly is expected to recall defenseman Carson Lambos from Iowa of the American Hockey League. The first-round pick of the 2021 NHL Draft would be in line to make his NHL debut should he step on the ice.

–Field Level Media