7:36 pm
December 14

Capitals @ Hurricanes

Who will WIN this matchup?

Washington Capitals (18-9-3)

@ Carolina Hurricanes (13-13-4)

 

Starting Goalies:

Braden Holtby (WSH):  Likely

Petr Mrazek(CAR): Unconfirmed

 

Current odds:

Washington Capitals: (-135)

Carolina Hurricanes: (+115)

 

• Captain Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals have been on quite the roll of late and hope it continues when they visit the slumping Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The reigning Stanley Cup-champion Capitals are riding a three-game winning streak during which they’ve outscored their opponents 14-4, giving them 10 victories in their last 12 contests. Ovechkin is in the midst of a 12-game point streak – one shy of his career best – during which he has collected 13 goals and six assists after registering his 21st career hat trick in Tuesday’s 6-2 home triumph over Detroit. The 33-year-old Russian leads the NHL with 25 goals as he seeks his sixth Maurice Richard Trophy in seven seasons and eighth overall.

• Carolina is coming off a 6-4 setback at Montreal on Thursday that dropped it to 1-4-1 in its last six contests. Teenager Andrei Svechnikov scored twice in the loss for the Hurricanes, who recorded fewer than two goals in each of their previous six defeats.

• Oshie made a successful return to the lineup Tuesday as he tallied to become the third member of the team to reach double digits in goals. The 31-year-old, who is three tallies away from 200 for his career, had missed 11 games with a concussion. Ovechkin is deadlocked with Glenn Anderson and Rick Martin for 12th place on the all-time list for most hat tricks and ranks 11th in NHL history with 126 multi-goal performances after breaking a tie with Dino Ciccarelli on Tuesday.

• Svechnikov’s two-goal performance against the Canadiens was the first of his career as he matched the output from his previous 13 contests. The 18-year-old rookie, who was selected with the second overall pick in this year’s draft, ranks third on the team with eight tallies – three behind leader Micheal Ferland. Sebastian Aho is one goal ahead of Svechnikov after scoring on Thursday to increase his team-leading point total to 29.

• Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov has registered a goal and seven assists during his six-game point streak.

• Ferland missed Carolina’s contest on Thursday – two days after returning from a concussion.

• Washington has won six of its last seven games on the road.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Washington Capitals
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