Rangers visit the Capitals after Lafreniere's hat trick

New York Rangers (4-1, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Washington Capitals (2-1, in the Metropolitan Division)

Washington; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: The New York Rangers visit the Washington Capitals after Alexis Lafreniere recorded a hat trick in the Rangers' 5-2 win against the New York Islanders.

Washington went 17-7-2 in Metropolitan Division play and had a 43-30-9 record overall last season. The Capitals scored 261 total goals last season (43 power-play goals and four shorthanded goals).

New York went 34-39-9 overall and 10-13-3 in division games a season ago. The Rangers scored 235 goals while giving up 249 for a -14 goal differential last season.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

INJURIES: Capitals: Rasmus Sandin: out (knee), Patrick Thomas: out (upper-body), Matt Roy: day to day (lower body).

Rangers: Joseph Veleno: out (lower-body), Joonas Korpisalo: out (lower-body), Aidan Thompson: out (undisclosed), Adam Sykora: out (lower-body).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.