Caps (20-12-5, 45 points) at Hurricanes (15-14-4, 34 points)
What » Game #38
Where » RBC Center
When » 7 p.m.
TV » CSN HD+
Radio » WFED-1500 AM
The Caps are safely in Raleigh after a morning flight to a place that somehow has more snow on the ground than we do here in the Washington area. The team had a morning skate and the game is on tonight, according to Hurricanes officials, as snow has moved out of central North Carolina. In all they received about eight inches in the Triangle, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
This is a big game for the Caps. They won two in a row to snap an eight-game losing streak. But after a shootout loss to the Penguins on Wednesday no one wants to start backtracking again. And they must do so in a place that hasn’t been too kind to them in recent years. Washington won 3-0 at RBC Center on Oct. 27 and then 3-2 on Nov. 24. It also took a 3-2 shootout win on Nov. 28 at Verizon Center – a game the Hurricanes tied with the goalie pulled and just 2.2 seconds to play. But prior to this season the Caps had won just 5 of their last 14 games in Raleigh with three of those losses in overtime or shootout.
Carolina sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, six points out of a playoff spot. One thing in its favor, though, is playing four fewer games than Washington and Atlanta – two teams ahead of them in the Southeast Division standings. Among the eight teams ahead of Carolina in the Eastern Conference the only team with fewer than 35 games played is Boston (33). The Hurricanes are 15th in the NHL in goals scored per game (2.7). But they allow 3.0 goals per game and special teams – especially a 28th-ranked penalty kill (77.5%) – has been an adventure all season.
Looks like Michael Neuvirth will get his fifth straight start in goal tonight, according to Caps senior staff writer Mike Vogel. He was first off the ice at the morning skate. We’ll have to wait until warm-ups to get an idea of the line combinations and defensive pairings. Washington ranks 10th in goals per game (2.9) and 12th in goals allowed (2.7). Both the power play (19.9%) and the penalty kill (84%) are in the top 10.
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