COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS 12/27/2019 LIVE 7:00 PM ET

The Washington Capitals made it through the first part of the 2019-20 season as the NHL's best team.

Now it's time to start the second half of the race to the finish line.

The Capitals resume play after the NHL's Christmas break by hosting the Metropolitan Division rival Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Through its 38 games before the holiday break, Washington tops the league with a 26-7-5 mark and 57 points. The club's 16-4-1 record away from the nation's capital also grids as the NHL's best.

The Capitals' rise to the top of the Metro has also shifted the power in the Eastern Conference along the way.

Washington swept its season series from the Tampa Bay Lightning, last season's Presidents' Trophy winners and owner of 128 points during a campaign that ended in a shocking four-game sweep at the hands of Columbus in the first round of the playoffs.

The Capitals beat the Lightning twice in the span of a week in December -- 5-2 in Florida and 3-1 at home -- after knocking them off 4-3 in late November on defenseman Dmitry Orlov's overtime goal.

Washington's success, however, came to an end Monday in Boston.

The Bruins blitzed Washington with a four-goal first period and skated away with a 7-3 win in a matchup that could be a preview of the conference playoffs in May.

Washington's Braden Holtby allowed four goals on 11 shots as Boston put away the contest after 20 minutes and pitched in a pair of empty-net goals in the third.

"So far too many penalties, obviously," said Washington coach Todd Reirden, who watched the Bruins go 2-for-6 on the power play. "If I had to point to one negative from (38) games into it, that would be it."

The Blue Jackets have already defeated the Capitals twice in December, and their recent stretch shows they may have a good opportunity for a third on Friday.

They are currently riding a five-game winning streak and were one of the few teams who likely didn't want to see play stop for a few days.

An even longer span of good play started with their first win of the month over their divisional rivals on Dec. 9 when they drubbed the Capitals 5-2 in Washington.

They followed that up a week later with Joonas Korpisalo's 30-save shutout in a 3-0 win over the Capitals.

In the two weeks leading up to the hiatus, Columbus is 6-0-2 in an eight-game point streak. The Blue Jackets are within six points of the pair of wild-card spots held by Pittsburgh and Carolina.

They have scored an average of 3.375 goals per game, allowed 1.875 per contest and defeated four divisional opponents in that time frame.

Coach John Tortorella said the key to the success has been the play of Korpisalo, who has started all eight in the point streak.

"He gives the team confidence the way he is playing," Tortorella said, "and the team responds by playing really well in front of him."

The Blue Jackets will be without right winger Cam Atkinson, who was placed on injured reserve on Thursday -- retroactive to Dec. 19 -- with an ankle sprain that is expected to keep him out for three weeks. Atkinson has 21 points (nine goals) in 35 games.