The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes go head to head beginning with Tuesday night's Game 1. Let's look at these two teams some more.
The Caps won the most recent meeting in a 5-4 shootout on April 10. They would fall to the Hurricanes a week prior on April 2 by a final of 5-1. The Caps would win on Dec. 20 by a final of 3-1. They would fall 4-2 on Nov. 3.
In this regular season series the home team won each game and every game was fierce. Expect this series to be more of the same.
What the Caps need to do with facing the Hurricanes is control the puck possession. Part of the Canes system is they love to control the puck. Per NHL Edge, he Hurricanes lead the League in offensive zone time percentage at all strengths at 45.1 percent during the playoffs.
The offensive zone time percentage reprsents the percentage of time that the puck spends in the offensive zone whle the game clock is running.
The Hurricanes also led the league in offensive zone time percentage during the regular season at 47.2 percent. The Caps offensive zone time during the regular season was at 40.7 percent which is just below the league average of 42.2 percent.
During the playoffs the Caps are ninth out of the 16 teams in offensive zone percentage at 42.3 percent. The Hurricanes also boast three of the top 10 NHL players in offensive zone time at all strengths. Those players are Shayne Gostisbehere,, Andrei Svechnkov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Gostisbehere has 51.8 percent and is second. Svechnikov has 50.6 percent and is fourth. Kotkaniemi has 48.6 percent which is tied for eighth.
The Hurricanes also led the NHL in five on five shot attempts percentage at 58.5 percent for the third straight regular season. They are tied for fourth in that category so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Caps are tied for 12th at 44.2 percent.
The Capitals do have a better edge in shooting percentage at 9.7 percent so far in the playoffs which is good for seventh compared to the Hurricanes who are ranked 13th at 6.7 percent.
In the regular season the Hurricanes were 2-1-0 against the Caps and outscored them 14-10. That included 9-6 at five on five.
In the end though the regular season doesn't matter. Neither does the first round. It's a new round and a clean slate and another chapter added to the rivalry.