Canes aim for third straight win as Capitals face goalie uncertainty. Key matchups and projected lineups revealed for tonight's showdown.
What - Game 54 (33-15-5)
When - 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31
Where - Capital One Arena; Washington, D.C.
How to Watch - FanDuel Sports Network South, MNMT
The Carolina Hurricanes will look to secure a third win in a row and take the season series over the Washington Capitals tonight in D.C.
The Canes are coming off of a historic comeback in which they scored three goals with under two minutes remaining in regulation to win 5-4 over the Utah Mammoth Thursday night at Lenovo Center.
The Hurricanes have started to get healthy again and are currently riding a six-game point streak.
Since their last meeting, Washington (26-22-7) has struggled to find wins and now sits outside of a playoff spot.
The Capitals snapped a two-game losing streak on Thursday, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout.
However, goaltender Charlie Lindgren was injured in that game and with Logan Thompson already out with injury too, it leaves a big question mark in Washington's net.
Perhaps one of the two will give it a go tonight or maybe Clay Stevenson will get his first start of the season.
Streaks
- Jackson Blake (1g, 2a) has points in three straight games.
- Andrei Svechnikov (3g, 1a) has goals in back-to-back games.
- Seth Jarvis (1g, 2a), Nikolaj Ehlers (2a) and Jalen Chatfield (3a) has points in back-to-back games.
Milestone Watch
- William Carrier is two games away from 500 career games played.
- Taylor Hall is four goals shy of 300 career goals.
- Jordan Staal is five assists away from 300 assists as a Hurricane.
Game Notes
- Carolina is 1-1-0 against Washington this season, having lost 4-1 on Nov. 11 in Raleigh and won 3-2 in a shootout Dec. 11 in D.C.
- Carolina is on a six-game point streak.
- Andrei Svechnikov is having a career month with 10 goals and 19 points in 14 games played.
- The two teams have fought in each of their two meetings this season. Logan Stankoven fought Martin Fehervary in Raleigh and Jordan Martinook fought Nic Dowd in Washington. Will we see another bout tonight?
Key Matchups
Projected Starting Goalies
- Frederik Andersen: 7-10-4; 0.869 Sv%; 3.23 GAA
- Clay Stevenson: First Start
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Seth Jarvis (23) / Alex Ovechkin & Tom Wilson (22)
- Points - Sebastian Aho (52) / Alex Ovechkin & Tom Wilson (46)
Power Play
- Carolina - 21.8% (13th)
- Washington - 16.7% (26th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 80.5% (12th)
- Washington - 78.2% (21st)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers - Jordan Staal - Jordan Martinook
William Carrier - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin - Jalen Chatfield
K'Andre Miller - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Alexander Nikishin
Frederik Andersen
Brandon Bussi
Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Eric Robinson, Pyotr Kochetkov (hip), Charles Alexis Legault (hand)
Capitals Projected Lineup
Alex Ovechkin - Dylan Strome - Anthony Beauvillier
Aliaksei Protas - Justin Sourdif - Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael - Nic Dowd - Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime - Hendrix Lapierre - Ethen Frank
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Rasmus Sandin - Declan Chisholm
Clay Stevenson
Charlie Lindgren
Injuries and Scratches: Dylan McIlrath, Sonny Milano, , Pierre-Luc Dubois (abdomen), Matt Roy (LBI), Logan Thompson (UBI)
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