Top 3 key Capitals to watch against Hurricanes

The Washington Capitals will look to bounce back from a Wednesday night loss to the New Jersey Devils where they'll be without defenseman Rasmus Sandin due to an illness. Tonight they host the Carolina Hurricanes, here's how to watch and bet on the game.

In other pregame Caps news, T.J. Oshie has gone back to Minnesota for treatment as he's been out of the lineup since Dec. 17 with an injury. It was first a lower body but now it is officially diagnosed as an upper body injury.

Matthew Phillips took the scratches skate so Hendrix Lapierre will draw into the lineup on the right side of the third line with Max Pacioretty and Dylan Strome. This news came via Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post who was in attendance at morning skate.

Here are the top 3 Caps players to watch in tonight's key division matchup:

#3 Evgeny Kuznetsov

Lost in the hype of Alex Ovechkin scoring again, Max Pacioretty's Capitals debut and the resurgence of Anthony Mantha is the rise of Evgeny Kuznetsov.

In Wednesday night's loss to the New Jersey Devils, Kuznetsov recorded two points with a goal and an assist which marked his 130th career multi point game.

His assist helped him bypass Mike Gartner for the fifth most assists in Caps history and Kuzy did it in 46 fewer games played.

#2 Ethan Bear

New Capitals defenseman Ethan Bear recorded his first point with the team with an assist on Jan 2. in a win at the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also logged 18:06 minutes of even strength ice time, which was the third highest total on the team.

During his Capitals debut at home against the Nashville Predators on Dec. 30, Bear logged 20:05 minutes of ice time and posted a plus one plus/minus rating. It was his first NHL game since April 13 and it came just days after he signed a two year contract with Washington on Dec. 28.

With Sandin out, look for Bear to have a good game offensively as Bear takes Sandin's spot on the second power play unit. It is a power play that got better but the offense still needs to play a full 60.

The other night against the Devils perfeclty summed up the entire Capitals season. They started cold. Got hot in the middle of the game. But then flamed out in the end.

To compete with a team like the Hurricanes, who are far better than the Devils, they have to protect the crease for a full 60. It doesn't matter who starts in goal and Bear will be relied upon as he adjusts more.