Stars and Sticks
Fansided

Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Hurricanes

By Michael Marzzacco

RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 28: Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov (30) during the warmups of the Carolina Hurricanes game versus the Washington Capitals on December 28th, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 28: Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov (30) during the warmups of the Carolina Hurricanes game versus the Washington Capitals on December 28th, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
RALEIGH, NC – JANUARY 3: Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals scores a goal and celebrates with teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 T.J. Oshie #77 and John Carlson #74 during an NHL game against he Carolina Hurricanes on January 3, 2020 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – JANUARY 3: Jakub Vrana #13 of the Washington Capitals scores a goal and celebrates with teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 T.J. Oshie #77 and John Carlson #74 during an NHL game against he Carolina Hurricanes on January 3, 2020 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Washington Capitals look to end a two-game losing streak on Monday night and no better opponent than the Carolina Hurricanes.

A team that gave the Washington Capitals headaches last spring and a part of this season until the team finally defeated them earlier this month, the Carolina Hurricanes come to Capital One Arena for the first time since Washington’s home opener where they escaped with an overtime win.

On Jan. 3 at PNC Arena, the Capitals came away with a 4-3 win. Richard Panik, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Lars Eller, and Jakub Vrana provided the scoring for the Capitals while Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves on 41 shots for a .927 save percentage.

Since that game, the Capitals rallied to defeat the San Jose Sharks then crushed the Ottawa Senators before suffering a two-game losing streak that began last Wednesday in Philadelphia against the Flyers and continued Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night to finish off a seven game homestand that saw the Canes win five of them. If the Caps want a win they need to look to the following three players to step up tonight.

Home/Editorials