Washington Capitals Wrap Up Home-and-Home with Hurricanes in Raleigh
After defeating the Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals will square off with them again on Thursday night in Raleigh. Beware of the storm surge.
The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes meet for the final time in the regular season but these teams could meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in less than two weeks. The Capitals won the previous meeting on Tuesday night 4-1 inside Capital One Arena thanks to a three-assist night from Evgeny Kuznetsov, fittingly on his bobblehead night. T.J. Oshie, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom each lit the lamp for the Capitals. Braden Holtby got the win in goal stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced for a .964 save percentage.
The win gave kept the Capitals (45-24-8, 98 points) as the front runners for the Metropolitan Division title, separating them by three points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders with five games remaining. The Hurricanes (42-27-7, 91 points) currently occupy the first wild card spot, a point ahead of the second-place Montreal Canadiens. If the season ended today, the Capitals and Hurricanes would meet in the first round.
The Hurricanes are led by Sebastian Aho with 30 goals and 80 points, while Teuvo Teravainen leads the team with 51 assists. They are backstopped by Petr Mrazek, who carries a 20-14-3 record with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Their backup goalie, Curtis McElhinney, is just as good with a 19-9-2 record with a 2.53 GAA and a save percentage of .915. Carolina went with Mrazek on Tuesday night. Mrazek stopped 24-of-27 in the loss for a .889 save percentage.
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Capitals fans, keep your eye on Ovechkin on Thursday night. His four-game drought without a goal came to an end on Tuesday night. Now with an NHL-leading 49 goals, Ovechkin is just one goal away from his eighth 50-goal season. If he reaches that mark, he’ll have the most 50-goal seasons of any player in NHL hstory. Ovechkin will be 33 years and 201 days old on April 6, the final day of the regular season. According to the game notes, Ovechkin is vying to become the first player since Phil Esposito (1974-75) to lead the NHL in goals at the age of 33 or older.
The Hurricanes have one of the newer and unique home traditions called a “storm surge” that they do after each win. The Capitals won the first meeting back in December so they didn’t have to fall victim to that. Whether you like it or hate it, the number one and only way to avoid a postgame storm surge is to win. The Capitals are 22-14-2 on the road this season.
The Capitals have won all three meetings this season against the Hurricanes and will go for the regular season sweep on Thursday night. Should they win, it’ll be the second Metropolitan Division opponent the Capitals swept in a season series after they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon. A win would also give the Capitals the century mark in points and it would be the fifth straight season with at least 100 points and the only active team in the NHL with five consecutive 100-point seasons (per game notes).
dark. Next. Alex Ovechkin has shown zero signs of aging
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