What - Game 39 (21-13-4)
When - 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5
Where - Capital One Arena; Washington, DC
How to Watch - Bally Sports South
The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Washington Capitals (18-12-6) for the second time this season tonight at Capital One Arena.
The Hurricanes are red hot, having won their last four games in a row.
The offense, which has scored 17 goals in that span, is being led by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov who are each on five-game point streaks and a lethal power play that has moved up to 4th best in the league.
Everything is going Carolina's way so far out of the holiday break and they hope to keep the good times rolling.
Washington on the other hand has started to see their hot streak start to fade with five losses in their last six games.
The Capitals are conceding a lot of goals and scoring has been very hard to come by for the team all year.
However, they hope that the return of Max Pacioretty can help boost their struggling offense.
Carolina will have quite a few game-time decisions today and they did not hold a morning skate so the questions will be left unanswered until closer to puck drop.
Stefan Noesen missed practice due to illness on Thursday and Martin Necas left practice early after sustaining an injury to what appeared to be his right arm.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour sounded optimistic about their statuses though, so we'll see how it goes.
Streaks
- Sebastian Aho (3g, 10a) and Andrei Svechnikov (6g, 5a) have points in five-straight for Carolina.
- Michael Bunting (2g) has scored in back-to-back games.
Milestone Watch
- Nothing achievable tonight
Game Notes
- This is the second meeting this season between these two teams. Washington won the first game 2-1 in a shootout at PNC Arena on Dec. 17.
- The Canes will face the Caps two more times after tonight, on March 22 and April 5.
- The Hurricanes will face former teammate Max Pacioretty tonight. Pacioretty, who played five games for Carolina last year before retearing his Achilles, will play his second game for Washington tonight on exactly the one-year anniversary of his Carolina debut.
- Another former Hurricane, Ethan Bear, also recently joined the Capitals. He will be playing in his fourth game of the season since returning from injury.
Key Matchups
Starting Goalies
- Pyotr Kochetkov: 10-7-3; 0.904 Sv%; 2.53 GAA
- Darcy Kuemper: 9-8-2; 0.893 Sv%; 3.15 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Sebastian Aho (15) / Dylan Strome (13)
- Points - Sebastian Aho (43) / Alex Ovechkin (24)
Power Play
- Carolina - 27.3% (4th)
- Washington - 13.7% (28th)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 83.1% (8th)
- Washington - 81.1% (12th)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen
Michael Bunting - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
Brendan Lemieux - Jack Drury
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Tony DeAngelo*
Pyotr Kochetkov**
Antti Raanta
Injuries and Scratches: Stefan Noesen (illness)* Jesper Fast (UBI), Frederik Andersen (blood-clotting issue)
*The Canes did not hold a morning skate today and Stefan Noesen was absent yesterday due to illness, so he could be a game-time decision. If he can't go, expect Tony DeAngelo to draw in.
**Rod Brind'Amour confirmed that both goalies will play as part of this back-to-back, but did not confirm who will play when.
Capitals Projected Lineup
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Tom Wilson
Alex Protas - Connor McMichael - Anthony Mantha
Max Pacioretty - Dylan Strome - Hendrix Lapierre
Beck Malenstyn - Nic Dowd - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Joel Edmundson - Ethan Bear
Trevor van Riemsdyk - Nick Jensen
Darcy Kuemper
Hunter Shepard
Injuries and Scratches: Alexander Alexeyev, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Matthew Phillips, Rasmus Sandin (illness), Charlie Lindgren (UBI), Sonny Milano (UBI), T.J. Oshie (LBI), Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
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