Carolina Hurricanes (15-15-5 35pts) v. Washington Capitals (22-10-3 47pts)
Time: 7p EST
Station: NBC Sports Washington and Fox Sports Carolinas
Preview:
With the Holiday break behind us, the NHL gets right back to it as the Washington Capitals host the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals went into the break winning both games of their back to back, while the Hurricanes were not successful in their first game, but when they donned the Hartford Whalers uniforms, they defeated the Boston Bruins in convincing fashion.
Carolina Hurricanes:
Projected Lineup:
Jordan Martinook — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen
Micheal Ferland — Victor Rask — Brock McGinn
Andrei Svechnikov — Lucas Wallmark — Justin Williams
Warren Foegele — Clark Bishop — Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin — Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan — Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk — Dougie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Janne Kuokkanen
Injured: Haydn Fleury (concussion), Jordan Staal (upper body)
Keys to the Game:
1. Continue Special Teams Dominance
While the Hurricanes were not successful on their powerplay opportunities against the Bruins, they did however use them to swing the momentum in their favor. Plus getting two shorthanded goals from Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho was huge for the Hurricanes in their victory.
Washington Capitals:
Projected Lineup:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Madison Bowey
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Dmitrij Jaskin, Travis Boyd
Injured: Christian Djoos (leg), Brooks Orpik (knee)
Keys to the Game:
1. Control the tempo
As mentioned for Carolina, they were very good at using their special teams units to take control of the game against Boston. The Capitals will need to combat that by controlling the tempo of the game and keep themselves out of the penalty box.
2. Get Special Teams back on track
The Capitals need to shore up their penalty kill, especially against Carolina. Also the Capitals need to shake up their powerplay a bit as well, and be less predictable.
*Editors Note – Projected Lineups were taken from both teams last games played. We anticipate potential line changes.
