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Caps blow into Carolina - Tom Wilson back, Burky still benched |
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The 18-9-3 Washington Capitals make a quick one-game road stop in Raleigh tonight at 7:30 PM EST to take on the 13-13-4 Carolina Hurricanes in a Metro Division matchup at PNC Arena. The Caps 39 points lead the division by three points over Columbus with Carolina nine back of the lead with 30 points placing them 6th in the division.
Washington enters the game as one of the hottest teams in the NHL as they’ve won 10 of their last 12 and are currently riding a three-game winning streak. Alex Ovechkin is on fire and enters the game on a 12-game point scoring streak registering 13 goals and 19 points over that span. He is one game shy of a career-best 13 game streak. His 25 goals lead the team and the NHL and give him more goals at the 30 game mark than at any other point in his career including his monster 65 goal year in 2007-08.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is also on a 6 game streak accumulating a goal and 8 points as he’s looked good since his return from injury on November 30th.
Carolina will play the second of a back-to-back after falling 6-4 in Montreal on Thursday night. Additionally, the Canes have been scored on 10 times in the last two games and have lost 3 in a row so the Caps need to get out early and not let any confidence build. Rookie Andrei Svechnikov had 2 goals for the Canes and continues to look very impressive as he is driving play on his own and creating for others. The second overall pick in the 2018 draft out of the Barrie Colts is the prototypical forward in the league nowadays. A quick and smart player he will have to be watched.
The loss of Jeff Skinner has really hurt the Canes attack. Registering only 76 goals so far, they have only outscored the Los Angeles Kings and the leading scorer Michael Ferlund only has 11 goals placing him 57th in the NHL. Leading point scorer Sebastien Aho is in 57th place in NHL scoring with 29 points.
Former Capitals forward Justin Williams was named team captain in Carolina this summer as he looks to bring some leadership to a fairly young group. He has a respectable 6 goals and 17 points in 30 games but is struggling at -11 and has taken many penalties with his 22 penalty minutes being second on the team.
Brett Connolly also enters the game on a 5-game point streak with 2 goals and 6 points as the former Tampa Bay 1st-round pick continues to play strong anywhere in the line-up. He is on pace for a career year in points as his 19 points have him just eight back of his previous best of 27 last season. Connolly has been playing smart hockey as well as he’s only been in the penalty box for 8 minutes which is saying something on a Caps squad that is prone to taking penalties.
Tom Wilson skated this week and will likely suit up tonight for the first time since suffering a concussion on December 4th in Vegas on the hit by Ryan Reaves. It will be a big boost for the Caps depth and the burly winger will play with Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana on the second line. At the time of the injury, Wilson was on fire with 7 goals and 6 assists in the 8 games leading up to the injury so the Caps will be hopeful he can pick up where he left off.
The devensive unit of the Caps took a hit as it was announced that Christian Djoos, who did not practice on Wednesday, underwent successful surgery on his left thigh on Thursday.
The Capitals report the injury occurred in the Detroit game. Rookie Jonas Seigenthaler will spot in with Madison Bowey in the interim.
With a healthy lineup of forwards for the first time all year, Coach Todd Reirden had some decisions to make. Andre Buraokovsky will sit out his second consecutive game and Chandler Stephenson will also be a healthy scratch for the first time this year. Stephenson has struggled for points and consistency this year with only 2 goals and 6 points so far so maybe some time watching will help.
The fourth line of Nic Dowd, Dmitrij Jaskin and Travis Boyd have been playing great hockey. They are possession killers right now and have been contributing on the scoresheet. The trio has 6 goals and 19 points over the last nine games.
Capitals next game is the second of a back-to-back as they return home to Capital One Arena tomorrow night at 7 PM EST vs the Buffalo Sabres.
Capitals Gain:
Popular former Capital Jay Beagle scored his first of the season for Vancouver last game
Former Capital forward Alex Chiasson now has 13 goals for the Edmonton Oilers matching his career high. He’s done it on only 43 shots!
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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